Millions Paying the Wrong Amount of Tax

If anybody can explain to me why my Mother,who has been retired for the last 3 years and live's off her State Pension,an army pension and a small private pension (taxed at source), has to pay £1585 to HMRC for underpaid tax for the periond 07/08 and 08/09 I would be forever grateful. The paperwork she as received doesn;t make sense as they have a figure of @ £7000 as PAYE???!?!?! Pay as you earn but she is retired?!?!?! I no understand!!

Any advice, as I've said, would be appreciated.
 
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I would suggest she try and arrange an interview with her local office (if it hasn`t been closed!!) and they should be able to explain and sort things out for her...hopefully!!

The place is really in melt down!!
 
No surprise, really - everything went tits up under Labour, the Home Office, the police, the schools, the hospitals, and now we hear we've been roundly lied to about the return of illegal entrants. Not a 50% return rate at all - barely 3% and presumably they'll all be eligible for naturalisation by the time they're called up to be sent home. To quote Ian Smith, "It would be comic, were it not so tragic." How many tens of billions wasted, I wonder?
 
Why did all you clever people vote new Labour in? I'm Old Labour and I could see they were Tories in disguise, but you couldn't see that?
Never mind, Mister squeaky clean Desperate Dave and Pancho will sort it all out, probably behind the bike sheds after prep, don't ya know!
 
Don't pay it. As long as your returns were sent in with the correct figures and you have been paying the tax you have been asked to pay, they can go whistle. Haven't had a demand yet - don't know if I will get one - but if I do 'owe' anything, they can shove it where the sun don't shine, as my returns are prepared by a certified accountant, sent on time, my tax code received and applied, all in good faith.

If we undercharged clients and went back a year later to ask for the extra dosh, we'd:

1. Lose any future business as we'd look like idiots
2. Be told tough sh*t (in a polite way of course)

Of course, we woouldn't even tell the client we'd undercharged them in the first place...

Wouldn't matter what government was in power over this one, Walsworth - they were ripped off royally on their IT systems and they don't train their users efficiently and cheaply either (ie, they refuse to use our type of training that delivers both cheaply and efficiently!!).
 
You can hardly blame a government a few months old, Walsy, for the long-term sins of the Blairites! You can see how far back this latest tosh goes. Cheers for that, Songs - I've only had rebates or paid small amounts up to now, so if there's owt to pay, I'll forward the invoice to my tax accountant to cough up for his error!

And if people really do have to pay it back, then they should pay it back at the rate it was added - if over three years, then pay it back over the same amount. Useless bunch, like pretty much all 'team' run disorganisations these days. No personal accountability or responsibility is my take on the way business is conducted these days.
 
Just a quick note to BlazingWalker ...

Unfortunately, pensions are usually subject to PAYE in the same way as earned income. Your mum will have a tax code to determine her allowances, the balance of her pensions would be subject to tax at the prevailing rates for earned income. Whether the figures they have provided are correct has to be open to question but it could be something to do with the way tax codes have, or have not, been applied ...
 
Muttlets, how come I've got four different tax codes? One each for the four courses I was working at, it seems. Isn't that just a tad over the top?
 
krizon said:
Muttlets, how come I've got four different tax codes? One each for the four courses I was working at, it seems. Isn't that just a tad over the top?
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the whole system is over complicated and also relies on employers actually giving up to date information to the tax office..which they fail to do

paye system has been dire for years..its not just the last 2 governments..its the system thats shite
 
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Anyone know how rigorously IR35 is policed? I'm thinking of dropping Clivex in it, as soon as he earns his first crust. :)
 
Well, yes, EC1, I think it's a bit over-complicated, too! But I suppose I'll have to phone up the DWP and find out why they've done it. It can't be right!
 
Kri, having lots of small sources of income can complicate things (I'm assuming our great and wonderful racecourses don't generally make their staff into millionaires :D). The tax codes are an attempt to apportion your allowances in such a way that you pay the right amount of tax - if your income is variable, this is almost impossible and the whole thing can only be balanced up at the end of the year, when all the annual returns from employers go in.

It's also worth remembering that employers have a responsibility for supplying some information to the tax office but that a whole lot more is often needed from an individual. It is, ultimately, an individual's responsibility to communicate significant changes in their circumstances. For example, if an individual takes a single, permanent job instead of having multiple employments, the individual needs to communicate that - if they don't, the likelhood is that the incorrect amount of tax will be deducted from their salaries. I've lost count of the number of individuals who have transferred to the organisation I work for from an agency, bringing with them a tax code of "BR", which means that they are paying the basic rate of tax on all their income and no allowances are being applied. This is something the individual has to sort it out with the tax office.
 
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Aha, I see it all now! Yes, I suppose that makes some sort of sense, Mutts. Strangely, you're right about what racecourses pay! I earn a very different amount in the present job at Brighton from the others, so I can see where different codes get used. Anyway, I won't be doing Fontwell and barely going to do Plumpton this NH season, so at least in future it'll be a great deal simpler! Thanks for the info.
 
Muttley said:
Just a quick note to BlazingWalker ...

Unfortunately, pensions are usually subject to PAYE in the same way as earned income. Your mum will have a tax code to determine her allowances, the balance of her pensions would be subject to tax at the prevailing rates for earned income. Whether the figures they have provided are correct has to be open to question but it could be something to do with the way tax codes have, or have not, been applied ...
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Thanks Muttley. After many calls and conversations with various people it appears that,as you have pointed out, her state pension as been taxed at the wrong rate due to the wrong code being used. It still befuddles me though how or why you pay tax on your state pension:confused:
 
You even effectively pay tax on the dole, nowadays. All your income for the year is added together, so if you are out of work for a few months that money will cut down your personal allowance for when you do start a job.
 
Anyone hear the head honcho at the IR on the midday news saying it wasn't his fault, he wasn't going anywhere, blame shouldn't be approtioned, morale was high in the ranks, and it's just a question of 'year end reconcilaition' that they can't balance the books and are millions of quid out....

T*sser...
 
Most of these wankers wouldn't have lasted the three months' probationary period in a big commercial business, would they? It's a pity the government doesn't privatise the DWP, the NHS, the Home Office in particular, and all schools. Particularly schools - once teachers' pay was tuned to the schools making a profit or going bust, you could very easily get shot of the dross and definitely make sure kids turned up - because by then the privatised Benefits Agency wouldn't be paying child allowances to parents whose kids bunked off. Sorted!
 
Heard on the news today that anyone that HMRC thinks owes them over £2000 will only have 3 months to pay it back and it they don't/can't interest will be charged on the remaining balance - cheeky f*!cking ba$*!ards!
 
I'd just like to say that if anyone from HMRC is looking in, Grasshopper thinks you are a fine collection if individuals who a difficult job in often very trying circumstances.

:ninja:
 
krizon said:
Most of these wankers wouldn't have lasted the three months' probationary period in a big commercial business, would they? It's a pity the government doesn't privatise the DWP, the NHS, the Home Office in particular, and all schools. Particularly schools - once teachers' pay was tuned to the schools making a profit or going bust, you could very easily get shot of the dross and definitely make sure kids turned up - because by then the privatised Benefits Agency wouldn't be paying child allowances to parents whose kids bunked off. Sorted!
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Sorry, but I don't understand what you mean, could there be a reason for that?
 
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I'm sure there is. It will be revealed when the Moon is in trine to Venus, winds S-SW, sea state steady, and the dog barks three times at midnight.
 
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For various reasons,including administration and sale of the company I have been contracted to, I am having difficulties in getting some of the info I need to send in to the HMRC. I consider myself fortunate to be in a position to be required and prepared to pay a substantial amount of tax. I explained my difficulties to one office and agreed a timetable to enable me to get the necessary info or with their help find a work-around so that I can pay the correct amount. That's fine.

Today I get a nasty pay up now or else letter from another office demanding a figure about 5% of the likely figure I will eventually pay. This is their estimation of what I owe. Stunning incompetence and clear failure to communicate which will take hours of waiting and explaining to resolve.Wouldn't it be a awful lot easier if they could use email?

There are capable and dligent people working for HMRC and most likely they are in the majority however there also many that are just not up to it. The service is not fit for purpose which is to collect the correct amount of tax for HMG by collecting the correct amount from those who should pay.

Deliberately placing tax centres throughout the country in areas where there is low employment has some merit but there is a need to train staff drawn from the available workforce and provide them with the support to enable them to do their job.If this is not done senior heads must roll. If it is done and still the staff are not up to it then the staff must be changed.
 
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