To hate HMRC - help with payment please

[Eldermillenialyogi]

I have a three year old and earn over £50,000 so I had to pay nearly £900 this year. I paid it as soon as it was assessed. I then received letters saying I fined £100 for the previous two tax years. I accept the fine for the year 2022 to 2023 but the year proper to that I was on mat leave and earned about £35K according to HMRC. I didn't need to do a tax return and shouldn't have to pay a fine.

I can't see how to challenge this online.

I can't see where the £900 I paid months ago went as it was applied to the £500 bill for last year and the two fines (which I had not agreed to pay)

I have paid this year's tax bill of £900 and just want to pay last year's tax bill and fine. I can't seem to find any of this on HMRC

Can someone please help?

Call them - you’ll be in for a long wait probably but it’s worth it! Make sure you have your UTR and any letters handy and if you use the app make sure you call from a different phone so you can log in while talking.
Word of caution, I’ve seen a couple of scams involving HMRC letters going round so when you call, use the number from the website.
Write everything down.
Good luck!

I hate the buggers too. I went online to pay them what I owe for 2023/2024 and they want me to pay 50% extra “on account” now for the current tax year. Bastards 😡

Call them Op, I discovered on of my payments to HMRC had been set against someone else's account. You'll need to be able to quote them dates and bank details but hopefully you can get a final figure and get it sorted.

That's been the case for quite a while?

I've had to do it for four or five years now, at least.

I know, I’m being totally unreasonable but it took me by surprise.

Thanks all. I'm trying to call now. The website doesn't acknowledge my payment. The app does but says I owe nothing for this year which is not right as it's clearly allocated my payment to the previous years. I had to say my postcode about 10 times!

HMRC allocate payments to the oldest debt - it’s the same for VAT, corp tax, etc as well as personal tax.

You therefore need to challenge the historic debts which you believe to be incorrect, and if upheld, the money which has been allocated to them can then be allocated elsewhere.

33 mins and waiting

Just decline to pay anything on account for next year as you are expecting changes. Repeat every year, they stop asking after a couple of years.

Once you get through they’re normally pretty good.

Do you have an accountant?

Well it took an hour and I got through, gave my details and he said "This is PAYE. You need self assessment, I'll put you through". So now I've been waiting another 20 mins so far.

No I don't have an accountant. I only need to do a tax return as I earn over £50K and receive child benefit.

You’re in for a long wait on the phone this week, as 31st is the deadline for submitting self-assessments, so all the last-minute panickers will be clogging the phone lines…

Think I've sorted it

Do you know the threshold has now gone up to £60k? Not sure when but recently…so if you’re below that you may not need to repay in future 🙂 (obviously doesn’t affect liability for previous years)

Try Resolver, they have helped me to contact HMRC several times and things have been sorted successfully.

Yes I'm just under £60K now so hopefully won't have to pay anything this year!

You’ll pay interest on underpaid tax if you shouldve paid on account though …

Never. Tax is not underpaid if its a payment on account, it's an advance payment.

Actually you're right I've just checked -

"If your bill is higher than you expected
If you reduce your payments on account and your tax bill is higher than expected, you’ll be charged interest on the difference. You can check the interest rates to find out how much interest you’ll be charged."

However my circumstances are slightly unusual and I think I fall within one of the exemptions. I've never paid on account. It's damn cheeky of them because it shouldn't be owed before you've earned it 🤦‍♀️

If it's personal tax you can change it to 0 at the end as long as you give a reason.

It isn't before youve earned it, you only have to pay 1/2 of the year when it's actually 3/4 of the way through if you're paying in Jan 25 on account of the current tax year dont you?

Or have I mixed that up somehow

But you have earned it. The payment on account is for the 2024/25 tax year and we are 3/4 through that year already. So the tax is effectively due towards the liability on whatever you have earned from 6 April 2024 until now. The second payment on account is due on 31 July after the end of the tax year but before the final deadline of 31 January. It's been the same system since the introduction of self-assessment in 1996/97.

Good luck reaching hmrc via phone!

I have had better luck going via govermment gateway hmrc account and saying i need to complain or tell them about a change.