Overtaxed- refund- interest
Discussion
So since 2005 I have had the wrong tax code. For various reasons I did not notice, assuming that the inland revinue would, at the end of each year, realise I had not earned a huge amount, thus recalculate my tax, give me my tax free allowence and then refund any tax as appropriate.
Its not beyond rocket science for that to be an automated process is it??!!!
Anyway, roll on 2009 and I finaly get clued up on tax codes and non taxable allowances. So I get our friends at the tax office to review my tax from 2005 to present.
They write to me to inform me that they had indeed cocked up and would be sending me a cheque for quite a bit of money...
After 3 weeks of phonecalls and being bounced around a cheque finally arived.... With both my names spelt wrong, even though my NS number and PAYE details are correct...
I sent the cheque back to them on the 24th of June explaining that they had cocked up and insulted me greatly by using the incorrect name even though they manage to tax me using the correct name every month.
I am STILL waiting for the correct cheque to be sent to me....I am now making phonecalls once a week to them, each time a different person who promises that they are waiting for the finance team to OK the replacement cheque and I will get it within a few days.... and every time nothing comes!
I am getting fed up, they have my money... if I didnt pay my tax on time I would be sent to jail, do not collect £200.....
So now my rant is over... I have a query.
Firstly, should I be entitled to the cumulative interest I "would" have earned on the money had they been taxing me correctly since 2005?
And would I be within my rights to also request the interest I "would" have earned had I recieved the money as promised way back in June?
Anyone know who I can write to and complain about this whole debacle in the hope of getting my money and interest back? No one has appologised to me for spelling my name correctly, or holding MY money back....
Its not beyond rocket science for that to be an automated process is it??!!!
Anyway, roll on 2009 and I finaly get clued up on tax codes and non taxable allowances. So I get our friends at the tax office to review my tax from 2005 to present.
They write to me to inform me that they had indeed cocked up and would be sending me a cheque for quite a bit of money...
After 3 weeks of phonecalls and being bounced around a cheque finally arived.... With both my names spelt wrong, even though my NS number and PAYE details are correct...
I sent the cheque back to them on the 24th of June explaining that they had cocked up and insulted me greatly by using the incorrect name even though they manage to tax me using the correct name every month.
I am STILL waiting for the correct cheque to be sent to me....I am now making phonecalls once a week to them, each time a different person who promises that they are waiting for the finance team to OK the replacement cheque and I will get it within a few days.... and every time nothing comes!
I am getting fed up, they have my money... if I didnt pay my tax on time I would be sent to jail, do not collect £200.....
So now my rant is over... I have a query.
Firstly, should I be entitled to the cumulative interest I "would" have earned on the money had they been taxing me correctly since 2005?
And would I be within my rights to also request the interest I "would" have earned had I recieved the money as promised way back in June?
Anyone know who I can write to and complain about this whole debacle in the hope of getting my money and interest back? No one has appologised to me for spelling my name correctly, or holding MY money back....
Edited by tegwin on Friday 11th September 09:38
First of all, tax refunds are taking an age at the moment. From what I recall, "some" refunds have to be processed manually because they don't meet the criteria for automatic processing.
If you sent back a cheque, it's probably gone straight back to the end of the queue for processing. And since it's a return, it might well end up having to go through manual processing now.
I was due a large tax refund earlier this year - it took almost 4 months from receipt of approval to receipt of payment due to this manual processing system.
As regards the interest - they certainly used to pay interest on excess amounts paid. But that was in the good old days, when interest was actually more than 0.5%. They didn't pay interest on my refund that they sat on for 4 months, "because the interest rate is 0%". Apparently. Whether or not they'd accept the rates for 2005, 2006 etc., I don't know but I doubt it. I suspect they'd calculate at today's rate. Which is still 0%.
Still, you can ask. Though I'd leave out the bit about being "greatly insulted" - HMRC can make your life very unpleasant if they choose to.
If you sent back a cheque, it's probably gone straight back to the end of the queue for processing. And since it's a return, it might well end up having to go through manual processing now.
I was due a large tax refund earlier this year - it took almost 4 months from receipt of approval to receipt of payment due to this manual processing system.
As regards the interest - they certainly used to pay interest on excess amounts paid. But that was in the good old days, when interest was actually more than 0.5%. They didn't pay interest on my refund that they sat on for 4 months, "because the interest rate is 0%". Apparently. Whether or not they'd accept the rates for 2005, 2006 etc., I don't know but I doubt it. I suspect they'd calculate at today's rate. Which is still 0%.
Still, you can ask. Though I'd leave out the bit about being "greatly insulted" - HMRC can make your life very unpleasant if they choose to.
Edited by SGirl on Friday 11th September 10:33
How can the interest be 0%?
If they had not taken the money in the first place (or paid it properly on time) I would have put it in a savings account recieving more than 0%..... Therefore I am out of pocket...
I understand what you mean about not complaining, but its so frustrating that this "body" who are suposed to be working for us (we pay them!) is so inept.....
If they had not taken the money in the first place (or paid it properly on time) I would have put it in a savings account recieving more than 0%..... Therefore I am out of pocket...
I understand what you mean about not complaining, but its so frustrating that this "body" who are suposed to be working for us (we pay them!) is so inept.....
I dunno. I don't work for them, I'm just a "customer"! 
I know what you mean about it being unfair, but this is the way they work. The interest rate is deemed to be 0% because the BoE base rate is 0.5%. I don't think HMRC pay savings-rate interest, although it's been a while since I last saw any interest paid on any money from them so I couldn't swear to that. You could always ask for interest at 2005 rates, but these are hard times for government organisations so I don't fancy your chances much.
I share your frustrations. My refund this year was a significant amount of money that I felt would be much better off in my bank account than theirs.
But really, it's in your best interests to be nice to them - they can help you, or they can hinder you. And in a worst-case scenario, they could really wreck your day.
I know what you mean about it being unfair, but this is the way they work. The interest rate is deemed to be 0% because the BoE base rate is 0.5%. I don't think HMRC pay savings-rate interest, although it's been a while since I last saw any interest paid on any money from them so I couldn't swear to that. You could always ask for interest at 2005 rates, but these are hard times for government organisations so I don't fancy your chances much.
I share your frustrations. My refund this year was a significant amount of money that I felt would be much better off in my bank account than theirs.
But really, it's in your best interests to be nice to them - they can help you, or they can hinder you. And in a worst-case scenario, they could really wreck your day. Gassing Station | Finance | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff