HMRC _ How do you get them to do things right?

[KellyBronze]

DH owes them money. We do not dispute that.

WE would like them to give us a correct bill of how much he owes.

He estimates that he owes £7K. Their bills have all been from £10K to £13K.

The first bill was £10K which included a student loan. He left uni in 1989 iirc so no chance. The guy recalculated his bill removing the student loan and then came up with a higher figure.

Now he is getting calls from their debt collecting department but the bill is in dispute.

What to do next?

Do you have an accountant? Sounds like you need to enlist one.

You have to pay the bill in full now, state it is disputed in a letter and that you wish to take the matter to the General Commissioners of Income Tax where you can represent yourself.

Alternatively, you could take it through the HMRC complaints procedure. Eventually you will get to the Adjudicator and eventually the Parliamentary Ombusman. We did this but it took 2 years and eventually got the money as an ex gratia settlement but without interest.

Do not watever you do refuse to pay. You will have debt collectors on your dororstep and huge costs.

oh bugger.

this sort of thing just makes me want to be unreasonable.

thanks for you info.

there goes my merry christmas.

I've just had to sort something like this out. Made me want to scream.

I would keep calling back. Sadly, you will find, some people you speak to are enormously helpful and some people aren't. I would call until you get someone who can explain exactly why they believe you owe the amount you say you do.

If your dh is not financially minded, or an accountant, and he can't see why they are saying that, then I would suggest you do need some help I'm afraid.

btw, the student loan thing is appalling - I just managed to sort an overpayment of a student loan from one of our employees but my goodness, it was a challenge.

just watch the penalties and interest too - that could be adding a huge amount onto what you think the bill might be.

they say you do, not you say you do!

the thing is, it isn't a long or complicated matter. just a good grasp of O Level maths is needed.

DH is very numeric minded, he deals with big complicated formulas all the time so I am sure he his calculations are sound.

Just wish he could talk to a competent person.

keep calling, I reckon about 1 in every 4 calls I get someone who is helpful.

re your dh, thing is, he needs to understand why they are coming up with a different figure. If he can get why that is happening, perhaps you will get somewhere with them!

from what he says, they are getting it wrong because they are calculating his salary as if he is earning the same amount as he did in the 6 mo period in question.

doesn't that seem simple enough?

that is why I think o level maths should be enough.

so is it his payment on account which is upping the bill?
If it is, and if he won't be earning the same amount in 10/11 then he can reduce his payments on account - if it turns out when the 10/11 tax return is done that he should have paid the higher amounts, then he has to pay interest.