r/HMRC

I'm beyond fuming and I'm not quite sure what to do as this has happened before and HMRC were not helpful at all. Last year, I was told that I paid little tax because HMRC stupidly authorised a tax refund and now I have to pay it back (which I am through my current work).

Now HMRC have written to me to say that I paid too little tax on my current job saying that I only paid £1400 in income tax. I was so confused because on my payslip, it clearly says the total tax I paid the last tax year was close to £4000 and every payslip says I am paying around £400 for PAYE. I am not the most financially savvy so forgive me if I'm incredibly wrong but don't we pay income tax through PAYE? I have notified accounts about this but they're currently on holiday until the week after but did say they will be investigating the matter. I have sent them my letter that HMRC sent me. I am writing this over the weekend and I intend to call HMRC tomorrow about this.

Does anyone have any advice on how I should handle this? Like I said, this has happened before and they were not helpful at all so I'm worried about not saying the right thing. If this isn't sorted, I'm basically paying £1500 to them over 2-3 years :(

I've been self employed for ten years, and my home address is my business premises. I run a fully licensed dog daycare full time from home.

Since moving over to making tax digital (sooo much easier) I've realised that I am actually entitled to working from home allowance as I WFH more than 103 hours a week (it's actually 160) - apparently this means that I'm entitled to £312 tax allowance per year. Have no idea how I missed this and I'm really annoyed at myself!

How far back can I amend my self assessments? And what do I need to include to mail to HMRC? Do I need to include paper amendments for every single year? Seems like such a faff, but I would like to get the refund for as far back as I can get

Many thanks

Hi everyone,

I just moved to Japan from Scotland (in March), and got a letter to my old UK address advising I am eligible for a tax refund. The issue is that I am trans, and to update your gender with HMRC you need a Gender Recognition Certificate (which I don't have). As such, I never bothered to update my name with HMRC either (which never caused issues when I was in the UK).

However, I am now having problems trying to get my tax refund as the name on my bank account (and passport) does not match the name HMRC have. I have set up a Gov UK account but when I try to link it to HMRC it won't accept my national insurance number.

Is there any other way to contact HMRC other than phoning them? From experience I imagine the waiting times will be astronomical, and international calling charges aren't cheap. Is there a WhatsApp number or online chat function (which lets me speak to a person and not a 'digital assistant')? Or do I just need to bite the bullet and phone?

A friend of mine got a "nudge letter" from HMRC about undeclared income and asked me to help figure out what to do. How seriously should this be taken? Is it just a routine automated check, or does it usually signal something more serious is already underway?

i have had two Letters, actual physical letters. saying i owe HMRC over 50K for a business that i do not own

they use my home address, my full name and my NI number. but i dont own any business at all

i have noticed two things between both letters, every mistake they made in the first is now fixed as the first one didn't use my full name, didnt have my NI number and the "company" had the word "limited" at the end and not LTD, this has been fixed. so obviously im swaying towards fake but with every thing ive read nothing has said about letters, only scam texts,calls and emails ?

edit heres the cover letter

https://preview.redd.it/ua7fkhy178bh1.jpg?width=2268&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=7b237efe9026f2b569c81c48b7cb8541b0e8890b

I got a letter saying I was owed money and will get the refund by cheque was issued on 7 June, but it’s now 2 July and I’ve still received nothing. I’ve called HMRC three times and been given different answers (wait 3 weeks, wait up to 6 weeks, then “it should’ve been here by now”). My address is correct and I’m receiving other post as normal. Did your original cheque eventually turn up, or did you have to get it replaced? How long did it take?

I only realised when I tried to claim JSA after the company liquidated and was rejected. Turns out there are no NI credits against my name because they got one letter wrong on my NI number. My payslips and P60s all show the incorrect number. They also used a short version of my first name, so I wonder if this prevented it from being flagged?

Weirdly I have found 2 payslips that use my correct NI number early in my employment, then it reverted to the incorrect one.

HMRC webchat said to send a cover note and P60s/payslip evidence to:
Individual Caseworker
PT Operations
North East England
HM Revenue & Customs
BX9 1AN

Does this sound correct?

Also is there a way of me checking the contributions that were made against the incorrect number?

So I accidentally registered for VAT despite being under the threshold, and am now facing a few thousand pounds assessment. Any advice?

I've been dealing with this for 3 months, and I'm really stressed about my VAT situation because it just keeps getting worse.

Last year I registered as a sole trader. I mistakenly registered for VAT even though my turnover was nowhere near the VAT registration threshold. I didn't do enough research myself, which was a huge mistake on my part. I had thought that VAT was an essential step in becoming a freelance sole trader.

For context, I work in Film & TV as an AD and Runner, also as a fashion and commercial model and part-time as a camera technician, all on a freelance basis. I only realised that I had signed up for VAT when I received the letter about my overdue VAT returns, stating that I owe around £900. I never charged VAT to any clients because I didn't realise I was supposed to.

Upon receiving the letter, I immediately called HMRC to see if they are willing to help me fix my issue and withdraw those returns but they only told me to deregister. So I hired a chartered accountant to help me sort this out, we drafted a letter to HMRC to request a cancellation and deregistration of VAT; for HMRC to withdraw my overdue VAT returns and remove any outstanding penalties fees.

After nearly two months of waiting, HMRC replied to my letter, but did not answer my request, only referring me on how to cancel my registration and dodged the request for the VAT returns and penalty fines. At the same time, HMRC had sent me numerous letters reminding me of the outstanding payments and also the moving the matter to BPO Debt Collection, which had mailed me and called me, I said to them that I'm disputing this claim.

So I decided to talk to my accountant and submit the figures for my VAT returns in order to deregister. However, my accountant came back to me with a figure of around a few thousand pounds, for basically a whole year of VAT returns, since July 2025.

I froze and realised that everything I had saved up for the past few years would potentially all be used towards fixing this one mistake. And to be frank, I simply cannot afford this.

In a moment of panic, I requested to cancel my registration through my online Tax portal. I was under the impression that I cannot cancel my registration without submitting the returns, yet it was approved and my VAT registration was cancelled today.

This however, did not wipe away the debt I owe and the potential few thousand that I have to pay, I guess it just stopped it from progressing it any further.

I called HMRC again to beg them to see if there's any way I can mitigate or reduce the amount I have to pay, but they basically only said, 'Rules are rules, it was not just a wrong press of the button, and you consented to knowing the consequences by registering voluntarily.'

Is there any way I can appeal these VAT returns? tbh the penalties aren't that bad what is really killing me are those overdue VAT returns, if I go ahead and charge my clients the VAT only invoice, not only is it very likely to be ignored, it would also damage my relationships with them, and that would virtually be career suicide.

Any advice or has anyone gone through something similar?

As part of a compliance check I have been asked by HMRC to provide details of an EIS investment from 9 years ago due to a loss relief claim one year ago.

I’ve provided the original HMRC EIS certificates from 9 years ago but now I’ve been asked to provide the bank statements showing the payments from nine years ago. I don’t have bank statements going this far back.

My question is, is this a reasonable request from HMRC or should I push back? I’ve never had a compliance check before. I thought you were only expected to retain paperwork for six years?

What are they actually checking for and how long do they usually last? What an absolute headache this is imagine we give them the same hassle paying bills… joke

I know it says to be patient but after seeing people in here get theirs. I just want to know what the hold ups could be. I know I’m due a refund due to low income for that year

Any advice would be great

I received a letter from HMRC VAT to say I have received two penalty points.

My company deregistered last quarter due to a drop in revenue.

I paid off all outstanding debts and my online account has a balance of £0.00.

Telephone support agree with the value of £0.00, but I still receive these letters and the “VAT support” line have no interest because “they aren’t the department that send them”.

How does that make any sense?

I'm trying to understand the tax treatment when a UK limited company buys a car that will be used for both business and private purposes by the director. From what I've read, if the car is available for any private use, HMRC generally doesn't allow the company to reclaim the VAT on the purchase, even if the majority of the mileage is for business. If that's correct, I have a few questions:

1. Is it true that the company cannot reclaim any VAT on the purchase if there's any private use?
2. Are there any exceptions that would still allow VAT recovery?
3. If the company cannot reclaim the VAT, can it still claim capital allowances (or 100% First-Year Allowance if it's a qualifying new electric car)?
4. Does the director's private use reduce or prevent the company from claiming capital allowances, or is the private use dealt with separately through the Benefit-in-Kind rules?
5. Is it possible for a company to receive no VAT recovery on the purchase but still receive full corporation tax relief through capital allowances?
6. For those who advise owner-managed businesses, what factors do you consider when deciding whether to buy a car personally or through the company? Do VAT, corporation tax, Benefit-in-Kind, and running costs usually drive that decision?

How the VAT rules, capital allowances, and Benefit in kind interact, as they seem to be treated quite differently.

Hi all

I'm completing a P11D online for an employee. They had use of a company care from April to Jan and then changed to a different car from Jan to April. However when i input both cars into this employees P11Db and put the dates for when the car was available it doesn't calculate it pro rata. Its trying to make the company and the employee liable for both cars all year. nothing i can do seems to change this. i've tried entering the april dates and NOT entering them but it doesn't change anything.

i've called HMRC twice and both times they hadnt heard of this issue. they spoke to omeone else and then the call cut out. both times after an hour of being on hold.

does anyone know about this? am i completing the forms wrong??? i can;t see how i am!

thanks

For the years 2024/2025 HMRC asked me to pay £3112.14 which I paid off. I sent a tax refund request last month for professional fees, and I got a new tax calculation saying I owe £2510.14 for 2024/2025. I called HMRC today and they said that the £3112.14 I paid earlier was never applied to my account so she had to manually apply it. She said that I’m now due a tax refund as I overpaid tax in 2024/2025 considering my tax refund. She said she is sending off a refund request for approval.
When can I expect to get the refund and will it come as a cheque or bank transfer?

I had a query relating to income recognition on my self assessment for 2024/2025. I contacted HMRC via phone in April, the guy couldn't answer initially so escalated to team leader who then escalated to the technical adviser (can't remember their title exactly). Their response was to put my query in writing and they would then give me an official response either way.

So I sent them a letter, which I can see in the HMRC app was received and is "In progress".

It's been 2 months now, my SA is well and truly overdue and with £10 daily fines racking up I'm probably going to be paying more in fines than I actually earned in income.

Frustratingly, I believe I have definitively resolved the query myself after reading deeper into the T&C small print on the site I have earned the income.

But the HMRC guy on the phone told me explicitly to not complete the SA form until the query was resolved and I had an answer in writing.

How much longer should I expect to wait for a response? I've tried the "Check when you can expect a reply from HMRC" on their website and it just tells me to login to my personal tax account, which I do, which then sends me back to the exact same wizard which then sends me to my personal tax account...