HMRC demanding £200 owed from 2014
Discussion
Can they do this, is there no statutory time limit? This is the first correspondence on the matter.
I'm certain nothing is owed but a loathed to have to spend the time proving it.
The entity that supposedly owes it no longer exists.
Failing a deadline that applies to then, can just claim all records have now been destroyed to comply with data protection?
I'm certain nothing is owed but a loathed to have to spend the time proving it.
The entity that supposedly owes it no longer exists.
Failing a deadline that applies to then, can just claim all records have now been destroyed to comply with data protection?
You have a statutory obligation to retain all of the records relevant to your returns there is no end date on that, so it's curtailed in practice by the legal limit on investigation. The time limits are different for different taxes, as if the office for tax simplification sits there doing nothing, but if an investigation into the last X years records uncovers a criminal matter then that brings 20 years of records in scope.
So I wouldnt go the GDPR route as destroying the records is an offence in itself, a more serious issue than the £200.
So I wouldnt go the GDPR route as destroying the records is an offence in itself, a more serious issue than the £200.
paulrockliffe said:
You have a statutory obligation to retain all of the records relevant to your returns there is no end date on that, so it's curtailed in practice by the legal limit on investigation. The time limits are different for different taxes, as if the office for tax simplification sits there doing nothing, but if an investigation into the last X years records uncovers a criminal matter then that brings 20 years of records in scope.
So I wouldnt go the GDPR route as destroying the records is an offence in itself, a more serious issue than the £200.
It's six years, not for ever.So I wouldnt go the GDPR route as destroying the records is an offence in itself, a more serious issue than the £200.
https://www.gov.uk/running-a-limited-company/compa...
MustangGT said:
If this is the case, why are they pursuing you? They would be going after the company. If you can show that the company deducted the tax correctly then you have no debt to HMRC.
Because I was involved with the entity HMRC claims owes the PAYE tax. I am trying to avoid the work having to prove nothing is owed.
Rufus Stone said:
MustangGT said:
If this is the case, why are they pursuing you? They would be going after the company. If you can show that the company deducted the tax correctly then you have no debt to HMRC.
Because I was involved with the entity HMRC claims owes the PAYE tax. paulrockliffe said:
You have a statutory obligation to retain all of the records relevant to your returns there is no end date on that, so it's curtailed in practice by the legal limit on investigation. The time limits are different for different taxes, as if the office for tax simplification sits there doing nothing, but if an investigation into the last X years records uncovers a criminal matter then that brings 20 years of records in scope.
So I wouldnt go the GDPR route as destroying the records is an offence in itself, a more serious issue than the £200.
The Office of Tax Simplification is definitely sitting doing nothing because it was abolished in Kwasi Kwertang's "non-Budget" Budget.So I wouldnt go the GDPR route as destroying the records is an offence in itself, a more serious issue than the £200.
Rufus Stone said:
Yes, for the purposes of the companies management act or whatever it's called it's 6 years. There are a number of other acts relating to different taxes that don't specify anything beyond you being required to retain records to evidence your returns, so the relevant time-frame for those is the time-frame where someone is able to challenge your return.But if you destroy them after 6 years and an investigation into the 6 years records you do have unearths something that is suspected to be evasion then the statutory limitation that applies is under a different act and is 20 years. You don't have sufficient records under that act and you have no defence to whatever best judgement assessment the Tax Inspector comes up with.
Those acts themselves create an exemption under GDPR because it is reasonable and necessary for you to keep them for the purposes of running your business and most won't be personal data anyway.
My point was that saying you've destroyed records because GDPR told you to is not going to work.
If the entity doesn't exist anymore, how can the entity pay it. Is there some reason that you would be personally liable for the entities debt?
Also are you sure it's not a scam, £200 from 9 years ago seems like the start of a scam, i.e. go in smallish, so they'll just pay it without question to avoid the hassle.
Also are you sure it's not a scam, £200 from 9 years ago seems like the start of a scam, i.e. go in smallish, so they'll just pay it without question to avoid the hassle.
Interesting timing but I had a demand for unpaid PAYE tax yesterday too, £700 ish from when I did part time work delivering groceries during the lockdowns.
I was expecting it last year and paid it same day, online using their portal.
They demanded the exact same amount , for the same tax year in the new letter.
Logging in online, it showed that I had underpaid £700, that they had received payment for the £700, but wanted another £700.
Hour on hold they said to ignore it….. ridiculous - I bet they would have accepted payment if I had just followed it blindly.
I was expecting it last year and paid it same day, online using their portal.
They demanded the exact same amount , for the same tax year in the new letter.
Logging in online, it showed that I had underpaid £700, that they had received payment for the £700, but wanted another £700.
Hour on hold they said to ignore it….. ridiculous - I bet they would have accepted payment if I had just followed it blindly.
Rufus Stone said:
MustangGT said:
If this is the case, why are they pursuing you? They would be going after the company. If you can show that the company deducted the tax correctly then you have no debt to HMRC.
Because I was involved with the entity HMRC claims owes the PAYE tax. I am trying to avoid the work having to prove nothing is owed.
Also, you say PAYE, that would indicate you were in receipt of a pension where you paid PAYE. If so, same point applies.
Are they chasing you, as an individual, or you as an officer of the pension fund?
MustangGT said:
How were you involved with the pension fund?
Also, you say PAYE, that would indicate you were in receipt of a pension where you paid PAYE. If so, same point applies.
Are they chasing you, as an individual, or you as an officer of the pension fund?
They are chasing the entity that no longer exists. They may not know that though.Also, you say PAYE, that would indicate you were in receipt of a pension where you paid PAYE. If so, same point applies.
Are they chasing you, as an individual, or you as an officer of the pension fund?
Unless deliberate there appears to be a six year deadline and it's well past that. I think I'll write back and point that out and advise them the entity no longer exists too. Hopefully I will never hear from them again.
If it was a limited company, my advice (as I have done myself many times) would be to write to them and advise it has been struck off and dissolved. They have the powers to reinstate a company, but they would only do so for £000s and if they thought they have a good case.
Whilst I don't have direct experience, I would apply the same logic to the pension scheme. It's gone, and for the amount of money involved, HMRC will just write it off. Just provide them with the documentation to show it has been wound up.
Whilst I don't have direct experience, I would apply the same logic to the pension scheme. It's gone, and for the amount of money involved, HMRC will just write it off. Just provide them with the documentation to show it has been wound up.
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