I've had three letter from HMRC saying I owe money

[Teafoot]

All say they'll arrange for it to be repaid through my tax code, which is fine, but they're all for the 22-23 tax year and they all have different amounts, ranging from £70 to £400.

What's going on?

Google the number on the letter. Possibly a scam?

Ring them up and ask. It often is a bit of a wait but IME they can be helpful.

Good point, look up the REAL HMRC number and call that...

Don’t use the phone number or website link on the letter as scammer’s create fake websites too.

They're not asking me to send money, only telling me my tax code has been changed. And I do owe money because of the increase in interest rates, probably the higher amount. I doubt it's a scam.

Personal Tax helpline 03002003300. You can download your Personal tax account from Gov.uk website. You will need your National Insurance number and some other ID. Passport or Driving license.

It's confusing, though. DH has had a couple of these, despite only paying PAYE at the basic rate. They don't account for it properly at all.

Has anything changed in your employment etc or work benefits that could explain this?

If you have your P60 for 22/23 use an online calculator to see if you paid the right amount of tax.

Did you have savings that could have earned interest above the personal savings allowance?

Are you PAYE? May be worth checking your payslips/speaking to finance. Whilst in a previous job, I had some mysterious letters.... turned out they'd changed system in the middle of the tax year and forgotten to deduct my student loan for a while - so pay went up, tax went up... and I owed a massive lump sum to the SLC. Ended up having to do Self-Assessment to sort it out.

Yes, PAYE. I know I must owe some money because of the increase in credit interest rates, but it would be good to have one figure.

Yes, I definitely owe some money because of the increase in interest rates. When I got the first letter I thought, that's good, it will be sorted without me doing anything, then I got 2 more letters with different amounts.

Do you mean you think you owe money because of the increase in interest on your savings? You would have to be earning a significant amount if interest before you had to pay tax on it. Either over £500 or £1000 depending on your income.

My DH gets one every year from HMRC saying he hasn’t paid enough tax and that it will be taken directly from his pension (he’s retired) it’s never adjusted, we don’t think he owes anything, but every year for 6 years the same letter, calling is pointless. Or a clue what it is about, neither have they!

Yes, I do owe for that reason, but I'd like to be told one figure!

Could the amounts vary because different banks report at different times?

But HMRC seem incapable of sticking to the same figure and they'll quite often do things like refund you £200 then send a tax demand for £220.

Do they provide any calculations on the letters they have sent? I imagine the different amounts are due to your interest income being reported to HMRC in dribs and drabs.

It took my DH about 12 weeks to sort out his tax. He was literally getting 2 letters in one day from HMRC. One saying that he owed £5k. Another saying that he was owed money. This went on for weeks. It finally got sorted - he received a refund of around £57. He just had to keep phoning, and persevering with HMRC. Good luck Op!

Have you got savings in different banks so maybe amounts sent at different times to HMRC so the amount has changed, if you haven't got an online account I would sign up for one as it may be clearer, do you know about how much it should be.

It's quite easy to go over the savings rate now especially if you are a higher rate tax payer as interest rates have gone up, I have seen £16k savings mentioned as an amount to start paying tax on.

Check on your Personal Tax Account. That’ll show the final figure.

Another one to say please phone the genuine HMRC number - when you get to speak to someone they are very helpful. Tell them the problem and ask them to help you.

You could contact HMRC yourself to tell them the correct amount of interest you received which would sort it once and for all.

Hmrc direct to confirm ?

I’ve had that before so setup an account of government gateway and they just took it from my wages