HMRC thinks my husband is Scottish and he's not. Help!

[MoiraStewart]

I'm helping my husband with his tax return. We haven't logged into his government gateway account since this time last year and have been confused to see:

They have his address as an MOD office in Scotland (we live in the south of England);

They think he's Scottish as of April 2023. This is important (see below);

They have his correct employer in England (he's a teacher) but with a Scottish tax code (begins with S);

They also have an armed forces employment (he used to be an officer in the army cadets at his school but now is in the RAF and no longer gets paid so he hasn't had a P60 from them since 2015 and I'm not even sure it's the same employer). This also has a Scottish tax code. This employer's payroll seems to be based at the Scottish address they have down as my husband's home;

There is also a random non-coded income amount that we don't recognise but this seems the least of our problems.

What on earth is going on and what should we do? Trying to get hold of HMRC by phone is probably going to be awful. This is probably also going to mean an unexpected extra tax bill as tax rates are different in Scotland.

When we tried to fill in the return, it asks to confirm the address and Scottish/English status but warns that this may change the tax calculation. We don't want to do this without talking to someone first as there's clearly been a data error somewhere.

If anyone managed to get through that, we really need reassurance and some sensible advice, please. Tax and self assessments scare us.

Probably quicker to complain via your MP

You’re gonna have to ring them, sorry. This isn’t a self serve solution.

Yes, I suppose it helped to type it all out - I'm not expecting HMRC customer service on Mumsnet.

I'm tired and a bit frantic. I'm not thinking straight at all.

@MoiraStewart I would advise - however onerous - to phone HMRC and keep on the line . Once you get to speak to a human they are helpful. So put some time aside - phone on speaker and just wait. My best advice. DS has had to speak to HMRC and did get through in the end.

I had absolutely no idea there were different tax rates in Scotland.

I like how you picked a very Scottish sounding name for this post. I’m always surprised that Moira Stewart doesn’t have a Scottish accent.

Why is your husband doing a tax return, does he have income other than his teacher’s salary?

Don’t get stressed about it. What are you worried will happen exactly? As long as you are truthful on it there isn’t much bad that can happen.

If it’s any consolation we pay higher taxes in Scotland

I agree with others that you should phone HMRC and speak to a person there. They are very helpful. Get all the relevant information together beforehand including your DH’s pay slips for the 2022-2023 tax year.

They will probably want to talk to your DH, not you so if it’s difficult for him to talk to them, ask what they need from him to enable you to talk on his behalf.

You need to ask them:

1. Why they believe your DH’s employer is based in Scotland?
2. Why they think your DH’s usual address is in Scotland?
3. Why they believe your DH is being paid by the armed forces?

Yes, we have a separate tax system in Scotland and higher earners pay a little more tax while lower earners pay a little less. For this, we have in return many benefits such as free prescriptions and free university tuition. In my fairly wide circle of friends, family and business associates, higher earners are pleased to do this for the benefit of those with lower earnings. Some sections of the media present a different scenario.

It sounds as if it’s going to take a bit of time to untangle it all so make a start asap. Be sure that your DH won’t be fined for a late tax return. All best wishes.

We have to pay back child benefit.

Honestly as soon as this is over I'm going to tell the Child Benefit people I don't want to receive the payments any more as that would finally make the self assessments go away.

I'm worried that he'll have underpaid tax and we'll have a massive bill.

EDIT: Sorry I quoted the wrong thing here. I'm really upset.

I picked Moira Stewart because she used to do the tax doesn't need to be taxing adverts that would hound me to do the terrifying tax return.

Well if he has underpaid tax then you will have to pay it but you can spread payments I’m sure. Why is he putting this on you? He’s a teacher, he must be capable of managing his own finances. Just leave him to it.

DH does a tax return for the same reason, and HMRC had added a £2k 'post graduate loan' to his bill. He doesn't have a postgraduate degree. Unexpected and stressful.

He's had to phone them a few times (wait time is about 45 mins) but they were quick to recognise it was an error and removed it.

You'll need to phone, but it it might be a quicker fix than you're worrying about.

Just go to sleep and tell him to ring them in the morning.

He'll be teaching all day. This is on me :( I'll have to use web chat.

Most people don’t. Low earners pay less tax. Higher rate tax payers pay more.

I'm worried they'll say I should have noticed sooner. It looks like this has been going on for 2 years! I've just spotted that the Scottish code appeared on his April 22 payslip.

He is a high rate payer in both regimes.

I'm also feeling incredibly guilty that I left it so late to do the return and now this has happened and it won't be easy to sort out.

Is he paying you to be his accountant? Stop being a doormat. It’s his mess not yours.

Was that Ms.Sturgeon's idea?
I wonder what they do with all this extra tax? Hmmm. Let's go through the SNP files. 😂

Fingers very much crossed we'll be taking some of our tax back from them.

I'm not sure HMRC will talk to you as this is about your DHs' tax affairs.
Scottish tax rates are higher than non-scottish tax rates so I'd be very surprised that your DH has underpaid tax. Hopefully due a refund.