Not the best weekend ever, with 3 letters from the tax man

Letter 1 - You owe us £300 for tax year 2010 - 2011

Letter 2 - You owe us £700 for tax year 2011 - 2012

Letter 3 - Please comeplete the self assessment form for 2012 - 2013

I had to self assess years ago, but then they dropped me, as I am a simple sole with a salary and not much else and really as of today not much has changed, its just a salary..

No shares sold
No extra income
No CGT

Thus a quick query, is it best to fill in online, I ask that as my daughter has done some crayon art work on the hard copy form

Is there anything I should be aware of filling in incorrectly, or be especially aware of?

Thanks y'all

I did my 2012-2013 form online last week. It's a doddle, though the tiny bit of extra income I get from translating gets taxed so much it makes me wonder why I bother!

Ali I wouldn't worry. It won't be the first tax assessment they receive with a PO postmark completed in crayon.

Jim - if you are a high-rate taxpayer or a director of a limited company or a sole trader, you will always have to complete a self-assessment return

Slightly bizarre that they have waited until now to tell you about two previous years

There's nothing difficult about doing it online - probably easier than using the paper form. However, you should be aware of all the reliefs that you're entitled to (for example, if you get a car allowance and then xx pence per mile for fuel, you can claim relief on the difference between the HMRC rate (£0.45p per mile) and what you get (plus another £0.05 per mile if you carry a work colleague on business trips)

You can also claim for professional subscriptions (magazine subscriptions that you pay for, but are essential for your work) and pension contributions (if you are a high-rate taxpayer - most pension contributions already have basic rate relief factored in)

It might be worth asking HMRC three questions:-

1) Why do you owe them the money for the two previous years?
2) Why has it taken them so long to tell you?
3) Why do you have to complete self-assessment?

Why do you owe the tax? If you send me a copy of the P800 (presume this is what you've received) I'll check it for you. If they had all the information at the time and they made a mistake/didn't act upon the information, you can get the amount owing struck off.

Good luck on that score! I was on hold for 45 minutes before getting a recorded message saying "We're extremely busy at the moment, please go to www.hmrc.gov where you'll find all the information you need" And then the #@*&*@# cut me off

An 0845 number too

Although I wasn't cut off in the end, I recently had to wait around 45 minutes before I got to speak to someone.

Next time, I'll make the call from one of their offices, although shouldn't have to when it's their fault in the first place

Thanks guys.

So its all a little odd.

I had to do a self assessment in about 2004, after submitting that, they sent me a letter that stated, thanks and we won't ask you to do that again, but if something changes in salary, circumstances, please let us know as you may be invited to self assess again in the future.

I would hazard that since 2004 until 2010 - 2012, my salary has probably doubled, there or there abouts, so I probably should have told them that.

Also, in the years 2010 - 11 the company I work for started a salary sacrfice scheme, this apparantly is where the errors in my tax have occured!

My concern though is from 2012 - 2013, my salary has pretty much doubled again (it was a good year with a good promotion) so now am well and truly in the top bracket and have concerns that I will get clobbered for even more tax

Thanks Nigel,

I am high rate tax payer, but just an employee.

I do get a car allowance, which I take as money, but don't do any business travelling at all.

I don't have any subscriptions or other costs of any kind.

But your pension comment intrigues me, I'll look into this.

Also, i ahve just noticed, its not as I first though with:

Letter 1 - You owe us £300 for tax year 2010 - 2011

Letter 2 - You owe us £700 for tax year 2011 - 2012

But letter 2 - You owe us £700, £300 from last year and £400 from tax year 2011 - 2012

Which is a little bit better I guess!

Do you calim child benefit Jim? I am having to go back onto self assesment due to 3 months of child benefit

Depending on your income, you can make it easier for yourself. PM me your total income including benefits and I'll advise.

Must be a standard ploy. Due to a cock up over assessment of my Mil pension I received a you owe series of letters. Started off at 12k, turned out it was "only" 7k. So 7k was a relief..

There is a extra-statutory concession from HMRC called A19. If HMRC had all your information to be able to calculate your tax correctly and did not within 12 months of the end of the tax year, then in many cases they have had to write the tax off.

From reviewing the documents, Jim may be able to use this. Fingers crossed that HMRC didn't follow their own rules.

Fingers crossed

Jim - if your employer is running a salary sacrifice scheme, you will not be able to claim any further tax relief, as technically, you're not making any contributions.

As a 40% taxpayer, you'll always have to complete a tax return, as HMRC will want to know whether you owe them any more tax (for example, if you have interest from savings, you will owe another 20% tax on your share of the interest)

I never knew that.

Well I have been a higher rate earner for the last 10 or more years and they took me off self assessment 8 years ago. Only back on it now to sort child benefit issue.

Same here ... I've not completed one for a few years now, at HMRC's request - and have avoided it this year as we no longer claim child benefit.

Generally, you only need to complete one if you fufil the criteria here ... http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/sa/need-tax-return.htm

But you should contact HMRC if in doubt, as they will fine you for late returns

Nigel is technically correct, but Bockers and Dave are doing what happens in reality for many taxpayers. HMRC don't care about a few pounds of extra tax, they'd rather not have a return to review. However technically what you should do is advise them to make an adjustment on your coding notice.

You have income from savings, investment or property

If you are an employee or a pensioner and already pay tax through a PAYE code, you can sometimes ask for tax that you owe on income, such as savings and property, to be collected through your code number. You'll need to complete a tax return instead if the income you receive is:
£10,000 or more from taxed savings and investments
£2,500 or more from untaxed savings and investments
£10,000 or more from property (before deducting allowable expenses)
£2,500 or more from property (after deducting allowable expenses)
If you don't pay tax through a PAYE code you’ll need to complete a tax return if all of the following apply:
you have income to declare, for example income from savings, trusts or abroad, rental income from land or property
your total income exceeds your total allowances and reliefs
you have tax to pay on this income