The Lemon Fool

Today I received a letter showing my new tax code. I had made some charitable contributions last year which were declared on my last tax return. The amount was correctly shown in the tax code calculation but there was an adjustment lower down the page. This, it turned out was because I had not paid enough tax to receive the full allowance for my charitable contributions. That's nonsense as I pay more than enough tax.
I went online to my tax account where it showed the same calculation, and it said if the calculation was correct I need do nothing. It failed to say what I should do if it was incorrect so I set about trying find a way of telling HMRC.

When you look at how you can contact them, there's a phone number or I could write a letter. A letter, really? I rang the phone number and got an automated voice which asked questions. One of them was whether I had been in my current job for some weeks. As I am retired I said no. Big mistake. The system then went into overdrive telling me how my new employer might be using a temporary tax code and how it would all sort itself out eventually. Then it told me to hang up. Haven't HMRC come across pensioners before, are the only people they deal with employed?

I rang again and said yes to the employment question, This got me a bit further but after a few minutes, the call went dead. I tried again, but again, I was cut off mid call. The voice had mentioned something about a digital assistant and a web chat at HMRC online so I thought I would give that a try. They said go to Gov.uk, navigate via "contact HMRC" and then to "ask HMRC online". Fat lot of help that was. Eventually after lots of dead ends, I stumbled on the "digital assistant". I began my "chat" with the robot. Once it got beyond the dead simple query, it said everyone was too busy to help me and to try again later.

I seems to me that HMRC have designed systems that tell us things but it hasn't occurred to them that we ought to be given a means of telling them when they make a mistake.

Has anyone found a good way of letting them know they've made a mistake

...Write them a letter?

I would suggest using the Government Gateway system. Five or six years ago I was charged excess tax on spurious charity donations and contacted HMRC via this method. Its a rather long winded process but they always replied in the end. Having said that, although they agreed I was due a refund, none ever materialised! They still owe me £50, plus interest.

Possibility, they're still WFH, so it might take even longer!

I would write them a paper letter of complaint and require a paper response. In my experience this year, they won't acknowledge receipt

I did email them last year and got 2 responses 2 days apart....2 months later. Oh well.

I'd still write a letter though. It seems regressing back to Victorian times is what they want.

Or you could try a pigeon.

They must have changed their system
8 or 9 months ago I rang them as they got my notice of coding wrong
she could not have been more helpful
she went through all my sources of interest
I gave her the correct figures, and it was fixed in one 15-minute phone call

forgotusername wrote:When you look at how you can contact them, there's a phone number or I could write a letter. A letter, really?

Another vote here for a letter, rather than by phone. I like to take my time to compose what to say to the taxman, to avoid a misunderstanding that might lead to unnecessary scrutiny. And you have a record of what was said.

Then again I have not had a tax code since the last century.

Lootman wrote:

forgotusername wrote:When you look at how you can contact them, there's a phone number or I could write a letter. A letter, really?

Another vote here for a letter, rather than by phone. I like to take my time to compose what to say to the taxman,

Theres this cool new free to use AI app that I need to tell you about......

Tedx wrote: Theres this cool new free to use AI app that I need to tell you about......

this one?
https://chat.openai.com/chat

pje16 wrote:They must have changed their system
8 or 9 months ago I rang them as they got my notice of coding wrong
she could not have been more helpful
she went through all my sources of interest
I gave her the correct figures, and it was fixed in one 15-minute phone call

Something has changed. Before Xmas we sorted out MrsF's issues quickly over the phone. This year they have a system which makes it IME impossible to speak to anyone. Everything refers you to their website or to report it via your gateway.

I'm sure I heard sometime last year that HMRC were not accepting queries by phone.

Towards the end of last year I got through to HMRC on 0300 200 3300 a few times. Sometimes they answered straight away, sometimes I was on hold for up to 40 minutes.

Scott.

forgotusername wrote:Today I received a letter showing my new tax code. I had made some charitable contributions last year which were declared on my last tax return. The amount was correctly shown in the tax code calculation but there was an adjustment lower down the page. This, it turned out was because I had not paid enough tax to receive the full allowance for my charitable contributions. That's nonsense as I pay more than enough tax.
I went online to my tax account where it showed the same calculation, and it said if the calculation was correct I need do nothing. It failed to say what I should do if it was incorrect so I set about trying find a way of telling HMRC.

When you look at how you can contact them, there's a phone number or I could write a letter. A letter, really? .......

Has anyone found a good way of letting them know they've made a mistake

What is your problem with writing a letter?

I have found this to be a very effective way of communicating with HMRC, eliciting helpful replies.

As an aside, I believe that letters also get taken more seriously when complaining to commercial companies. Particularly if addressed to the CEO!

So not a bad skill to maintain.

Try deferring a state pension that's in payment. Can't be done.

swill453 wrote:Towards the end of last year I got through to HMRC on 0300 200 3300 a few times. Sometimes they answered straight away, sometimes I was on hold for up to 40 minutes.

Scott.

Mrs Watis was able to speak to someone (after some hold time) querying her tax code notice for 2023/24. A revised and apparently correct notice arrived a week or two later.

Watis

I telephoned HMRC last week. I waited for 80 mins to speak to a human. They advised me to speak to DWP about my pension query which was related to my tax code. The DWP phone was answered virtually immediately when a delightful lady from the Belfast office answered my enquiry. HMRC need to get their act together and deal with the public as efficiently as the DWP.

Mike88 wrote:I telephoned HMRC last week. I waited for 80 mins to speak to a human. They advised me to speak to DWP about my pension query which was related to my tax code. The DWP phone was answered virtually immediately when a delightful lady from the Belfast office answered my enquiry. HMRC need to get their act together and deal with the public as efficiently as the DWP.

Not my experience, sadly.

"What is your problem with writing a letter?"

This is 2023, times have moved on from the way my forebears were obliged to communicate, at least they have in nearly every other walk of life and organisation. Why don't they offer a messaging option. I get electronic messages from them. Why can't they allow me the same facility?

Could it be that HMRC know it takes more time and effort to write a letter and then go to a post box to send it. They figure, lots of folk will give up when they find that's the only way to contact them.

As a society we should not put up with such indifference to our needs and not pander to HMRC's arcane ways of working.

I am not sure writing a letter is a good idea.

Fed up with trying to get through on the 'phone, I wrote to HMRC with a simple query about capital gains tax.

I posted the letter on 8th November and am still waiting for a reply.

Jimbob47 wrote:Fed up with trying to get through on the 'phone, I wrote to HMRC with a simple query about capital gains tax.

Are there "simple" queries about capital gains tax?

My 'theory' here is: If it's "simple" I don't have a query; if I have a query it isn't "simple".