HMRC

Phil_aka_Pip

Recently they sent me a bit of paper saying how much of my money they'd helped themselves to out of my pay packet for tax and national insurance and on the other side was some kind of a breakdown telling me of all the wonderful and worthwhile things the state was spending my money on.

Today I received another one. Identical.

They clearly think I need to be told more than once. Has anyone else had more than one of these bits of propaganda?

Handsome_Chris

Probably.  Mistakes happen.

axisus

They took the money twice. Just sayin ....

Phil_aka_Pip

axisus said:

They took the money twice. Just sayin ....

I bet they wish they had. In 2002/3 I paid more than twice as much tax as I paid last year.

m_c

I only got an email saying I could login to my HMRC account to find out where my money had gone.
I'm obviously not worthy of a letter.

Legionreturns

I'm thinking about putting HMRC in contact with the local council to cut out the middle man. I can't pay tax if the council don't pay my fucking invoices. 

RandallFlagg

Don't ask Ken Dodd about HMRC, he's spent time avoiding them in the past...

Budgie

They sent me a cheque for nearly £4K.... I didn’t bother reading the other side ✌️

Headphones

I work for a Government department.  Can someone explain to me why we (the department) pay tax on things we buy (it merely reduces our budget by a fifth to pay...)?

Or for that matter, why would I pay tax at all on my salary?  I get paid substantially less than the market rate (see how good I am to you all!) and we pay other civil servants to collect the tax...

jellyroll

Headphones said:

Or for that matter, why would I pay tax at all on my salary?  I get paid substantially less than the market rate 

In that case, you pay less tax than the market rate. Problem solved

Rocker

A question for you UK based guys, do you have any way of claiming tax back due to medical costs* incurred during the year?  In the ROI, Revenue always advise people to claim for medical costs, doctors fees, medical devices etc.  Usually results in a refund of a couple of hundred Euro so it is worth the effort.


* medical devices [CPAP, prosthetic limbs etc.] that you pay up front for, prescription costs, doctors fees, consultant fees, alternative medical fees, physiotherapy etc. etc.

hywelg

Nope, if you pay for your medical care you cannot claim it back. 

skunkwerx

My stepdad recently had several grand taken from him for an hmrc mistake decades ago. 

Lovely people. They didnt miss it til they knew they hadnt theived it. 

fields5069

They put me on a K-code for next year. I'm pretty sure it's a mistake, but I'm toying with the idea of leaving it until self-assessment time and waiting for the big cheque. They appear to be taking unpaid tax which they're actually taking this year anyway, plus they are assuming we're still claiming child benefit. I know I'm usually on a low-ish L-code because of company car liability and health insurance. The last time I was on a K-code was when the company I worked for couldn't be bothered to tell the HMRC that I had a company car, so I ended up paying 2 years worth of BIK tax in one year.

chillidoggy

Headphones said:

I work for a Government department.  Can someone explain to me why we (the department) pay tax on things we buy (it merely reduces our budget by a fifth to pay...)?

Or for that matter, why would I pay tax at all on my salary?  I get paid substantially less than the market rate (see how good I am to you all!) and we pay other civil servants to collect the tax...

It keeps people employed, and also gives HMRC another shot at fucking up the tax it collects.

FarleyUK

I received 3 separate letters, all with different amounts I owed them. When I called up, they couldn't explain which was correct.

Eventually we sorted it, but it was bloody confusing!

strtdv

I PAYE but then submit a self assessment as well to claim back for what I put into a SIPP, charitable giving, and professional expenses etc.

This is the first year the amount on my P60 has been correct, but the self-assessment process has always been pretty easy, and you get an estimate then and there for what you'll be paid back. They also give you the option to adjust your tax code for the following year to account for these things which makes things even simpler.

Maybe I'm just lucky.
Even the student loan company managed to correctly stop my loan repayments on time!