The tax man. Need I say more!!

I kept the accountant on after my husband died. He was extremely helpful to me, especially when there was a question about being incorrectly taxed on a sipp, which had been transferred to me after being widowed. He spoke directly to hmrc. Little by little my (our) tax affairs sorted themselves out and from 2022 my tax affairs are very simplistic. I have finished with the accountant now but would not hesitate to use an accountant if I had affairs that were in any way complicated

I kept several years of accountant copies so this year, my first for self assessment, I shall only have to copy into the relevant spaces online, same spaces but different amounts

After DH died HMRC sent me a cheque for £1060, then a few weeks later wanted £964 back!
Giving with one hand etc comes to mind.

We'll said Pudding. I worked for them for 37 years (in the lowest possible grade). Mine was purely office work, just typing etc. I usually didn't say, when asked, who I worked for. It wasn't worth the hassle. I was told that 'It was alright for me as I didn't pay tax' or 'Can you sort my tax out? or 'Can you get me a form?'. Or even rudeness.

At the time, some of my colleagues were very well qualified indeed. I get as frustrated as the next person when I have to contact them and can't get through these days. I'm sure they're not doing it on purpose.

@Lizbethann55 when my husband died I received a widow's pension from his company, I already had my Teacher's pension. Unfortunately the widow's pension was not taxed correctly and I ended up owning the tax man a ridiculous sum. I asked if I could repay it over three years, and lo and behold, the following year they had not actioned my request.

I set up on on-line tax account and bombarded them with emails. Four years later the debt has finally been paid off, although they have still massively over estimated my savings interest which is ridiculous, everyone knows how low the current interest rates are.

Might this be of use to your husband and his accountant?

I was employed as a Tax Officer for 36 years and well trained...I took early retirement 12 years ago because I could and I was disillusioned with the people they were employing and the lack of training they were receiving but please do not refer to all" tax people "in such a derogatory manner most of my colleagues who I still meet up with regularly are excellent at their jobs .

I had trouble with them a few years ago which took a while to sort out. I have their letter of apology framed in the ensuite toilet.

Sounds stressful for you and your DH, I hope they come to a satisfactory conclusion.

humpty dumpty I am in the same position. I could have claimed my state pension 12 months ago but decided not to. This year I have started to claim it, but put it into premium bonds so I don't get used to relying on my pension and my wage. The taxman was on to it in less than a month . My actual wage is below the tax payable level . Now of course I am paying tax so I have less money a month . AND I have also had a tax demand of over £300!! How did that happen!!!! I will pay the HMRC what they say I owe, but after that, they had better leave me alone. DH has enough tax worries without mine adding to them.

Lizbethann55

Peasblossim filling in the form isn't the problem. My DH is obsessive about keeping absolutely all his paperwork in order. It is the total shambles the HMRC make of the information my DH sends them, which is the problem.

Oh sorry. ?

I guess I’m just used to feeding it into the computer system and letting it do the work. I’ve never been asked for an actual piece of paper-even though I have a boxful?

Is anyone else fed up with HMRC. Has anyone taken them to task, and won?

Yes a few years ago now, Lizbethann
Income from different sources can be dealt with at different tax offices and one may not have a clue what another office is doing.
Conversation between me and Tax Inspector went something like this:
Her: "It's up to your husband to keep track of his tax and what he owes".
Me: "But you are the experts and we expect you to get it right, how has this only just come to light?"
Her: "Oh, but sometimes the left hand doesn't know what the right hand is doing"
Me: "Well, if you can't sort it out, how do you expect a lay person to?"

DH had to employ an accountant but it was worth it as he didn't owe any of the thousands HMRC claimed he did.
In fact, he got a small refund.

I can’t bear them. I do my own books and get my accountant to file. Having an issue this year as a gov grant I was given in the first lockdown was listed as tax exempt, which they changed two weeks before the filing deadline. Really p*****d off. Rishi is happy to write off his friends/family’s and Tory donors covid loans, but has stuck the knife into the self employed who were unsupported through the pandemic. Furious doesn’t cut it. Won’t be voting Tory ever, ever again.

Have just started claiming my state pension while still working, and to my surprise, HMRC seem to be on top of things. Long may it last!

Peasblossim filling in the form isn't the problem. My DH is obsessive about keeping absolutely all his paperwork in order. It is the total shambles the HMRC make of the information my DH sends them, which is the problem.

Nouakchott??????? Can’t even remember what I meant to type now>?

I’ve filled in an Nouakchott self assessment for years now. It’s quite simple -even I can do it?

I have a ball park figure in my head of what I’ll owe because of additional earnings like Royalties and it’s pretty much the same as what the computer system says every time.

Then I pay it by direct debit and it’s done for another
The tax is paid from the years earnings.

I didn’t work at HMRC.

In your office, did you have clerks?

Or be an unqualified clerk as most are.

I suppose it very much on what you class as qualified.

Enter at degree level then 4 years minimum training with continued updates throughout their professional life.

Your husband should authorise his accountant to deal with HMRC on his behalf and leave it to them. In my experience HMRC can be totally useless. Qualified? You’re joking as regards the vast majority of them.

Do you know nearly all HMRC offices have been refurbished at enormous expense?

It's a nightmare. For the last 10 years of my career I was working freelance on a number of different projects. Collating all the invoices, expenses etc. was truly a nightmare and I got conflicting advice from HMRC all the time. I was very glad to retire!! I wish you lots of luck with all this - you have to be single-minded and determined to sort these tings out. Do any of us need this stuff I ask myself?

But ...... when my OH died and I was starting to try and sort stuff out I rang them about my tax codes - they sorted it out very efficiently over the phone, tagging codes to the different pensions so that it was most advantageous to me.

It can take nerves of steel to deal with HMRC sometimes. I am glad you have an accountant. Try to leave it to them to do the worrying.

Advanced computer systems my foot. HMRC definitely have weak points. My husband runs a very small business and had the delight once of HMRC telling him he owed a million pounds. Turned out HMRC had somehow got the wrong business name. Husband managed afterwards to joke with the inspector. I couldn’t have.

Well a few years ago they were taken to task and we did win but we couldn't have done so without our accountant. They took on board the information he supplied, which was exactly the same as supplied by us, but for some reason they wouldn't accept.

I understand your frustration and hope you'll be able to get this sorted.