To be furious at the numpties at HMRC (Inland Revenue)?

[melpomene]

They have sent me a £100 penalty for not completing my tax return. Which I did complete, way back in July. Last month they sent me a penalty warning notice so I phoned them and they accepted that I had returned my form and no further action was necessary.

I just phoned them again and they agree that I returned my form last year, but apparently I must still appeal in writing.

you should have gotten their acceptance of fault in writing earlier in the year.

yes they are fuckwits

but that is not a new thing

you need a good telling off for trusting them verbally - naughty naughty

well I do still have the receipt they sent last year confirming that I had completed my tax return, so that ought to be enough.

Don't ya just love em ?
Phone again. Speak to someone else. Get their name and write down that you spoke to them on 25/2/08.
It depends who you speak to. Someone else, on a good/bad day, might accept a fax of the original you have and may agree that it does not require an appeal.

They are all jokers, i hate hmrc, them and the job center idiots. The have totally incompetent people working there.

good luck with sorting the fine out.

We asked four different people at the IR for an answer to a simple question, and got four different documented answers. So rather than risk their ire and retribution, we asked the customer to donate our income to a charity. Its bloody ridiculous.

its a shame the service is so up and down. It'll probably take you ages to get your money back now.

in retrospect, i had a brill service from them. they helped me compile my tax return (1st one and didn't know what to put where), then i transfered it onto the online form, submitted it on a friday and had a tidy wedge tax refund in my bank account the following thursday!

did you do it online, or send in the paper form?

I submitted it on paper, back in July. They acknowledged it at the time and paid me a rebate.

I had a similar issue with our Building Soc. They shagged up all along the line and then tried to charge me for failure to pay when they'd cancelled my direct debit instead of increasing it.

They refused to back down so I got extravagntly pig-headed and stubborn and started to write to them every few days demanding they sort it out. They kept phoning me and every time I asked to speak to the person's supervisor until I got to speak to someone in senior management.

I had, by this time, clearly got their goat so he in turn dug his heels in.

The upshot was that i won with compensation but only after I started to bill them for my time.

I kid you not.

So my message to you is to write it all down in polite terms that nonetheless imply their utter stupidity and send it off to the most senior person you can. Or if you've taken your brave pills phone and ask to speak to the most senior person on duty and DON'T hang up until they put you through. Write down everything they say even if you have to slow them down or stop them for a minute. Tell them that your taking notes.

Think about it from their point of view: they could easily spend well over £100 sorting your complaint out if you're determined to get stroppy.

Go on. It's the most fun you can have with sleep deprivation.

WithOUT sleep deprivation.

I, clearly have the aformentioned.

zzzzzzzz