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Pre Xmas Post - owed or refund ?


Dizzy

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So anyone looking forward to their post between now and Xmas then :shock:

 

Seems that a recent Treasury audit of HMRC has shown some huge blunders in the way that peoples paye tax has been calculated.

 

Over 6 million people (roughtly 1 in 4 of those working) are due to receive letters through the post, the earliest expected to arrive through the letterbox from this coming Tuesday although it is expected that it will take until Xmas to notify everyone :shock:

 

Don't worry too much though as 'only' 1.5 million have not paid enough whereas 4.3 million have actually paid too much :?

 

Now not wanting to question HMRC here BUT...... if 'we' are all late in paying what we owe or worse still we calculate our amounts or submit incorrect data we face receiving heafty fines in return... so can all those affected now 'fine' HMRC for their 'error' too :wink::D

 

Beats me now they have got it all so wrong though :roll:

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Sadly, only half the story has been reported.

 

HMRC has taken some big hits since its inception 5 years ago losing 20% of its staff- many with plenty of experience.

 

Add in the introduction of new working practices which have added to delays in dealing with corespondence at the expense of reviewing End of year information and it was bound to blow up one day.

 

HMRC are going to take the brunt of the reaction to this but have been battered these past few years.

 

The introduction of the new computer system (the same one that created the tax code story earlier this year) has caused the review of data that had basically been closed down at the behest of the same Treasury officals that are now blaming the previous Government for this whole fiasco.

 

The worst part is that the mandarins at the top of HMRC will never admit they have got it so wrong- just leave it to the guys on the ground to take the flak.

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On behalf of my brother I have to say that the taxman is a necessary evil, because the country could not be run without some form of taxation, and therefore someone to administer it. The problem is the type and level of taxation and that is down to our politicians, not the taxman. :wink::wink::wink:

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Still can't make any sense of it all but that's probably due to the press reports that simply quote the Condem party leaders as saying 'its the last governments fault' and 'we' are now 'having to sort it out' :?

 

Beats me how they ALL managed to miss the 'error' for so long :roll:

 

Anyway, it has been spotted now sho who's fault is it?

 

Surely most people paying PAYE have it automatically calculated and deducted from their wages at source via their Employer's payroll department and software.

 

Is it the Employer's fault, the fault of the software they chose to use which may not be updated with budget changes etc etc OR the fault of incorrect information given to them from HMRC or even the employees last employer ???

 

I often wonder what has happened to all the overpayments to HMRC that have never been claimed back.

 

Going back some 15 years we were told at work by person who's partner worked for hmrc that a lot of people paid too much tax through their works PAYE schemes but never knew it.

 

Rebates were often due but apparently it was NOT HMRC's duty to inform people and the only way to find out was to 'ask' HMRC in writing if you were entitled to one.

 

We all wrote our letters one lunchtime for a laugh not expecting anything in return due to the size of the company we worked for (BNFL). We quoted our personal details from our pay slips, payroll numbers, tax codes etc and sent them off. WE ALL GOT REBATES :shock::shock:

 

Sadly it was only backdatable a couple years(if I remember rightly) but I certainly got a very nice sum of money back :D

 

So one chance chat with a visiting rep and we were quids in :D:wink:

 

Anyway.. I digress... who's fault is it :?

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The majority of the under or over-payments will be people whose circumstances have changed but who haven't bothered to inform the taxman at the time.

 

It could be people who have changed jobs, taken on a second one, gone self employed, received a company car or a fuel card, had changed entitlement to tax credits, pretty much anything.

 

Even if you pay tax via PAYE it's still your own responsibility to tell HMRC of any changes which could affect your tax code so that a correct code can be generated. It's not your employers job to do that, they just calculate the tax due from the code they are supplied with. If an individual waits for any changes to come to the taxmans attention when their employer files year end paperwork then they can hardly moan when they find they have either an outstanding liability or find that they have overpaid.

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I've heard that Electrical Engineers (particularly those who work all over the place) are likely to be the worst hit..... can you get your brother to confirm this Asp?

 

Whys that then? If they are employed by one company it shouldn't matter where they work... should it.... :? and if they are self employed and work as a contractor and go all over the place they should keep their own records and do their own tax returns etc so it's their own fault... is it ?

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