| Tax bombshell [message #374041] |
So, 26 März 2006 19:55 |
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Hi
I received a letter from the Inland Revenue yesterday. I was shocked
to find 2 Payment Reminders for tax and class 4 NI contributions for
the years 1986/87 and 1987/88. I have been paying PAYE for the last 10
years and as far as I know don't owe any tax. Both Reminders state
that I have already been asked for payment. I can't even be sure what
I was doing then. Any advice?
Edward
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| Re: Tax bombshell [message #374047 ] |
So, 26 März 2006 21:18 |
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<nobody [at] here.com> wrote in message
news:62ld225iqddsvpro1jj2ack161p7t8um9j [at] 4ax.com...
> Hi
>
> I received a letter from the Inland Revenue yesterday. I was shocked
> to find 2 Payment Reminders for tax and class 4 NI contributions for
> the years 1986/87 and 1987/88. I have been paying PAYE for the last 10
> years and as far as I know don't owe any tax. Both Reminders state
> that I have already been asked for payment. I can't even be sure what
> I was doing then. Any advice?
What happened to the 7 year limit thingy?
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| Re: Tax bombshell [message #374051 ] |
So, 26 März 2006 22:01 |
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<nobody [at] here.com> wrote in message
news:62ld225iqddsvpro1jj2ack161p7t8um9j [at] 4ax.com...
> Hi
>
> I received a letter from the Inland Revenue yesterday. I was shocked
> to find 2 Payment Reminders for tax and class 4 NI contributions for
> the years 1986/87 and 1987/88. I have been paying PAYE for the last 10
> years and as far as I know don't owe any tax. Both Reminders state
> that I have already been asked for payment. I can't even be sure what
> I was doing then. Any advice?
Ring them and ask.
This just has to be an error of some kind (even if the error is
they stayed in someone's in-tray too long).
tim
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| Re: Tax bombshell [message #374069 ] |
Mo, 27 März 2006 09:19 |
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Virgil's Ghost wrote:
>
> What happened to the 7 year limit thingy?
What 7 year limit? The Revenue claim they can go back indefinitely
although whether this would be deemed fair and equitable by a court I
don't know.
I recently had the revenue hassle me for tax for about 5 years ago which
I had already paid. The person I spoke to in Bristol said they were in a
mess at the moment because someone had loaded a backup tape onto the
system which had overwritten a lot of records. I don't know if this was
just an excuse but given their form....
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| Re: Tax bombshell [message #375670 ] |
Mo, 27 März 2006 18:29 |
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"davidof" <david.george [at] g-dumpthisbit-mail.com> wrote in message
news:4427922c$0$1150$7a628cd7 [at] news.club-internet.fr...
> Virgil's Ghost wrote:
>>
>> What happened to the 7 year limit thingy?
>
> What 7 year limit?
The 6 year limit for which debts may be enforced.
> The Revenue claim they can go back indefinitely although whether this
> would be deemed fair and equitable by a court I don't know.
They possibly can in the event of a reassessment caused by
an error (or worse) on the part of the tax payer.
But I suspect that the normal limitations apply for collection
of a debt that the IR have already correctly issued an assessment for.
> I recently had the revenue hassle me for tax for about 5 years ago which
5 years is less than 6.
tim
> I had already paid. The person I spoke to in Bristol said they were in a
> mess at the moment because someone had loaded a backup tape onto the
> system which had overwritten a lot of records. I don't know if this was
> just an excuse but given their form....
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| Re: Tax bombshell [message #375673 ] |
Mo, 27 März 2006 19:25 |
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Call HMRC or write to them and ask for
1) further details of what taxes they are saying you owe them,
2) how the arrears are calculated,
3) what income/gains the tax relates to,
4) why they haven't chased you before about these arrears,
5) why do they think that you should now pay after all those years,
6) the dates on which any reminders they say they issued were issued,
and
7) the address to which they sent the reminders.
If there really are any arrears (and I am not sure whether or not HMRC
can recover sums so old) then it is up to HMRC to provide explanation
as to why they are only now chasing you.
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| Re: Tax bombshell [message #375681 ] |
Mo, 27 März 2006 20:10 |
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"SandalsMan" <jbenator [at] gmail.com> wrote in message
news:1143480326.108604.173020 [at] g10g2000cwb.googlegroups.com...
> Call HMRC or write to them and ask for
> 1) further details of what taxes they are saying you owe them,
> 2) how the arrears are calculated,
> 3) what income/gains the tax relates to,
> 4) why they haven't chased you before about these arrears,
> 5) why do they think that you should now pay after all those years,
> 6) the dates on which any reminders they say they issued were issued,
> and
> 7) the address to which they sent the reminders.
> If there really are any arrears (and I am not sure whether or not HMRC
> can recover sums so old) then it is up to HMRC to provide explanation
> as to why they are only now chasing you.
>
I once had them chase me for many weeks over allegedly unpaid tax on savings
I hadn't declared. At the end of this period, when they finally told me what
the savings were (originally they wouldn't tell me insisting I had to
declare it, despite me not knowing !) it turned out to be interest which was
from a savings account that wasnt taxable, and the amount was such that even
if it was taxable, I didnt owe any tax anyway. Other than that they were
right on the ball, odds are its similar for the OP given the time delay and
the state their records are in.
--
Tumbleweed
email replies not necessary but to contact use;
tumbleweednews at hotmail dot com
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| Re: Tax bombshell [message #375685 ] |
Mo, 27 März 2006 20:21 |
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tim (in sweden) wrote:
> 5 years is less than 6.
Well done Tim
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| Re: Tax bombshell [message #375731 ] |
Di, 28 März 2006 17:05 |
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"Tumbleweed" <thisaccountneverread [at] yahoo.com> wrote in message
<
> I once had them chase me for many weeks over allegedly unpaid tax on
> savings I hadn't declared. At the end of this period, when they finally
> told me what the savings were (originally they wouldn't tell me insisting
> I had to declare it, despite me not knowing !) it turned out to be
> interest which was from a savings account that wasnt taxable, and the
> amount was such that even if it was taxable, I didnt owe any tax anyway.
> Other than that they were right on the ball, odds are its similar for the
> OP given the time delay and the state their records are in.
They threatened my father for a similar thing and he was completely at a
loss as to what they were getting at, in the end it turned out it my was
actually *my* savings account that was opened by my grandmother or something
and contained about £500... I was about 10 at the time.
I think sometimes they just do it for shits and giggles, they shake the tree
and see what falls out.
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| Re: Tax bombshell [message #375738 ] |
Di, 28 März 2006 19:50 |
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>I once had them chase me for many weeks over allegedly unpaid tax on savings
>I hadn't declared.
There is a difference though between tax on income you haven't declared
(which in the case of negligence or fraud can go back 20 years) and tax
that you owe. The OP I think was saying that HMRC said he owed tax,
not that he had not declared all of his income. Two different
scenarios. Your tax was based on non-declared interest on savings,
which means they can go back up to 20 years to assess the tax and then
collect the tax.
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| Re: Tax bombshell [message #375745 ] |
Di, 28 März 2006 20:58 |
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"SandalsMan" <jbenator [at] gmail.com> wrote in message
news:1143568259.068337.71480 [at] e56g2000cwe.googlegroups.com...
> >I once had them chase me for many weeks over allegedly unpaid tax on
> >savings
>>I hadn't declared.
>
> There is a difference though between tax on income you haven't declared
> (which in the case of negligence or fraud can go back 20 years) and tax
> that you owe. The OP I think was saying that HMRC said he owed tax,
> not that he had not declared all of his income. Two different
> scenarios. Your tax was based on non-declared interest on savings,
> which means they can go back up to 20 years to assess the tax and then
> collect the tax.
>
What pissed me off was the sheer level of incompetence they displayed,
allied with arrogance, and finished off with sheer inefficiency, since even
if there had been tax due (which there clearly wasnt), there must have been
several million people ahead in line of me, since the amount due would have
been a fiver at most.
--
Tumbleweed
email replies not necessary but to contact use;
tumbleweednews at hotmail dot com
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| Re: Tax bombshell [message #375923 ] |
Do, 30 März 2006 02:08 |
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On 27 Mar 2006 09:25:26 -0800, "SandalsMan" <jbenator [at] gmail.com>
wrote:
>Call HMRC or write to them and ask for
>1) further details of what taxes they are saying you owe them,
>2) how the arrears are calculated,
>3) what income/gains the tax relates to,
>4) why they haven't chased you before about these arrears,
>5) why do they think that you should now pay after all those years,
>6) the dates on which any reminders they say they issued were issued,
>and
>7) the address to which they sent the reminders.
>If there really are any arrears (and I am not sure whether or not HMRC
>can recover sums so old) then it is up to HMRC to provide explanation
>as to why they are only now chasing you.
Don't call them. Most staff who answer the phone for HMRC don't know
what they are talking about. They have usually been in the job for a
few weeks or moved from a totally unrelated department.
Tell them that you will not pay because the debt is too old.
I wrote to Varney and got a phone call the next morning saying a
client's charge will be cancelled. This was after the local office
said I would have to appeal. I refused to appeal because it was the
fault of HMRC.
--
Peter Saxton from London
peter [at] petersaxton.co.uk
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