Self assessment tax penalties - is there any hope for me?

[AnybodyHelpMe]

Please can anyone help me? I know I've been stupid ignoring the situation and letting it get to this but I'm really trying to sort it out now and believe me, no one can make me feel worse than I do about it but it's done so needs sorting.

Was self employed for a short time. Didn't end well. Didn't file a tax return for 2010-11. Finally had help sorting it and all forms submitted and done.

Good news was they owed me money!

Bad BAD news is penalties had not only wiped this out but I now owe them just shy of 1k.

So basically I'd paid tax and was due a rebate but as I was late filing returns they toOk what they owed me and now I'm in debt.

I'm not working I'm a SAHM with no income. I have no way of repaying this really. Is there anything I can do? Or is it simply accept it and deal with the debt?

If this is the wrong place to post this please let me know.

Did they take it direct from your bank account or have you been invoiced the amount?

Just to confuse matters (!) I only worked half the year in SE eg 1st half of 2010 employed, 2nd half SE, 1st half 2011 SE, 2nd half employed (if that makes sense?!) so I was paying tax both years at some point.

They took the tax I'd already paid (I'd have been due this back as overpayment) and used it towards paying penalties and now I owe them the rest as debt.

How much are the penalties? Of the debt?

Have you called them re making a repayment plan? Mines only £19 a month and they were very nice

No I've been trying to sort it out for ages and keep getting passed from pillar to post. She said today I could arrange a payment plan in a couple of weeks. It's just making me so upset that I've got into debt wen I was actually owed the money! I'm so mad at myself!

I'm not totally sure of the totals but I now owe £900 ish and they took about £6/700 from my tax to pay off some of it.

Poor you.

Though I did the same. You are not the first. Paid it back over three years.