Hounded by HMRC

[themimi]

I'm PAYE. A couple of years ago I moved I had to complete a self assessment to pay back some child credit as I'd moved in to a different wage bracket. All done. Then, I received a letter 6 months ago saying I hadn't completed a self assessment and was being fined. I'm PAYE so don't do SA. I called HMRC and they sent me a letter confirming I don't know anything. But the letters keep coming. Today received one saying I now owe £1,200. I'm clearly stuck in a system. I know I don't owe this because I have a letter from HMRC to prove it but the letters are really stressful. What can I do to get them to stop sending me these? Help!

If you are good to do a SE then you have to do one, did they?
it doesn’t matter if you don’t owe anything you will still be fined for not doing the SE

Sorry TOLD to do a SE

Have you actually had confirmation from them that you are now PAYE only and no longer have to complete a tax return? When I stopped being self-employed I rang them up and told them, and they said they would amend their records so I didn't have to fill in a tax return any more.

Seems like there are some crossed wires somewhere. You need to call and speak to them, and find out what to do now. Ask if they have a record of your previous contact regarding the subject.

What's an SE? Do you mean SA? I'm a teacher - PAYE - we don't do self assessments.

If you do a SA once you are expected to do so each year until told not to. Usually once there is no extra to repay again.

Is it definitely not related to child benefit, because you'll need to do a self assessment to pay back child benefit if earning over c£50k, even if PAYE.

If it is a mistake you could do a data rectification request and enforce the data to be corrected that way, find the HMRC privacy notice online and there will be contact details on how to do so.

I'm a teacher - PAYE - we don't do self assessments.

Of course teachers can do SA - it's not based on occupation! And plenty of people on PAYE also do SA - you were one of them. So yes you should have carried in until they told you not to. Which is normally after you've had one assessment which showed nothing to pay.

I have rung and have a letter saying I don't owe anything. But the letters keep coming!

Yes I mean Self Assessment
They are not just for self employed people and it doesn’t matter if you are PAYE.
If they tell you to do one you do it or get fined. By doing one once it might mean you have to continue to do so.
I have had to do them when Employed before

I've had an assessment showing nothing to pay.

As others have said, it doesn't matter if you don't owe anything. You will need to write to them and let them know why you submitted that return, that you have only had income from a PAYE source since then therefore no reason to submit anything further, and ask them to rescind the penalty.

I've had an assessment showing nothing to pay.

I said that's normally when they write - not that it's always. Unless you've had a letter you have to continue.

Apart from the fine for not doing the self assessment.
I know it’s daft but it’s separate so you don’t owe any tax but you may well owe the fine plus interest

You may have to do several years before not needing to submit a SA. One without checking with hmrc won't do it,

When DH moved from partly self employed to wholly PAYE, he still had to carry on filling in a tax return for about 4 years until HMRC eventually agreed he could stop. I would always err on the side of continuing if there’s any doubt.

It’s possible you’ll still owe the fine unless HMRC agree that you shouldn’t have received the first £100 for a late return.

The fact that you've had a letter saying there's nothing to pay is irrelevant. You still have to fill in a self assessment form until they tell you that you don't need to complete them any more. Confirmation that you don't owe them anything is not the confirmation you need. You still have to complete the SA anyway, otherwise you get fined.

You still have to fill in the form. Just do it. If you are on PAYE it won't take you very long. You won't have to pay any tax, they just want the form.
We were penalised for not filling in a tax return for my late son, 5 months after he had died.
They give no quarter. It is pointless arguing.

Self assessment isn't just for self employed.

It doesn't matter that you are a teacher or that you are PAYE.

If they want you to do one, you have to do it.

It doesn't matter that you owe nothing, you still have to do it.

The £1200 is fines because you haven't done it.

You do owe this £1200 and will owe more if you don't pull your finger out.

Op, there are two parts to this:

Self assessment is usually for things like self-employment, capital gains, repay child benefit etc - things that aren't known and collected through a tax code (PAYE). The calculation tells you what you owe.

Requirement to complete a self assessment - as pp say, once in you stay in until confirmed as out. Penalties are separate for not competing one. Looks like you are six months out of date? (See photo).

The contacting them to explain.

www.gov.uk/government/publications/self-assessment-appeal-against-penalties-for-late-filing-and-late-payment-sa370/self-assessment-how-to-appeal-against-penalties-for-late-filing-and-late-payment

The letter saying you don't owe anything is separate. This may be penalties for late filing. Rather than a tax assessment.

Does the most resent letter say what year you were supposed to self assess?

If you didn't meet any of the self assessment criteria (and being paye only doesn't guarantee that you don't meet some criteria) then call them and discuss this. They can then remove the requirement to file and cancel any penalties.

Meant to attach this which is from the document link

I completed a SA and received confirmation.
Then I kept getting emails saying I hadn't.
I wrote twice and rang 5 times and it took 4 months to finally get an agent who knew how to rectify their mistake.
HMRC phone lines are mostly manned by incompetents and they need to open their offices for F2F appointments for the elderly.
My df really struggles.

Do you have a HMRC government gateway login OP? If you login it should show you what they are expecting from you and when. If there are penalties they'll show too.