refusal of asc 19 even though information supplied

by **Barney5648** on Mon Jan 02, 2012 6:30 pm

Received notification of £2600 tax arrears from 2007 to 2010, this is based on the wrong tax code being applied to a pension I am receiving. I changed jobs in 2007 and sent the relevant information. They have admitted they did not use this, but that I should have realised the amount was large enough for me to notice. Is it worth my appealing against this decision? I am phoning tax office tomorrow to ask for all relevant correspondence etc. for these years.

by **mullet** on Mon Jan 02, 2012 11:17 pm

ESC A19 is not just about information provided - it is also about whether the person could have been reasonably expected to believe that their tax affairs were in order. Here are a couple of pointers (in my opinion) to someone not being able to have that expectation:

- if the pension is not taxed at all
- if the pension is taxed at basic rate but there is higher rate liability
- if a normal tax code is applied to both the pension and the employment
- if the two tax codes (pension and employment) obviously add up to much more than a "normal" tax code

Do any of the above apply to you? Please say why you believed your tax affairs to be in order.

by **King_Maker** on Tue Jan 03, 2012 6:02 pm

Even if HMRC continue not to apply ESC 19, you can appeal to The Adjudicator's Office. HMRC only "won" 44% of the complaints referred for 2010-11.

http://www.adjudicatorsoffice.gov.uk/

by **Barney5648** on Tue Jan 03, 2012 10:14 pm

A new tax code was issued to my pension provider in 2007 which had previously been taxed at Basic rate, however had problems before about tax on my pension which is why I informed them about my change of employment in 2007 and actually rang them up to say so which is why I ended up filling in one of the forms which they failed to act upon Hope this makes sense

by **mullet** on Tue Jan 03, 2012 10:34 pm

A new tax code was issued to my pension provider in 2007 which had previously been taxed at Basic rate, however had problems before about tax on my pension which is why I informed them about my change of employment in 2007 and actually rang them up to say so which is why I ended up filling in one of the forms which they failed to act upon Hope this makes sense

Not really. Did you check (via payslip/pension notification etc) that the pension payer was operating the code that had been issued? You would have received a copy of the coding notice too.

by **Barney5648** on Tue Jan 03, 2012 11:44 pm

I have contacted my pension provider to ask them for the codes supplied by HMRC for all the years in question I cannot find any notification to me of codes for some of the years in question so have asked HMRC to supply me with any correspondence for all these years

by **King_Maker** on Wed Jan 04, 2012 11:03 am

Did you change your address during the relevant period?

Have you asked HMRC to which address the Notice(s) of Coding were sent?

by **Barney5648** on Wed Jan 04, 2012 7:52 pm

I did not change my address as I have been here over 30 years

by **King_Maker** on Thu Jan 05, 2012 9:51 am

But did you ask HMRC which address they used?

Is/has there been any problems with Royal Mail in your area? Has other mail gone astray?

Does the non-receipt apply to other HMRC mail?

If HMRC are using the correct address but you are not receiving the Notices of Coding, something must be wrong.

by **wamstax** on Thu Jan 05, 2012 12:55 pm

You should consider making an application under the Data Protection Act 1988 whereby HMRC will be reqwuired within 42 days to provide you with copies of all the information held on their records whether electronically (on computers) or in paper form. You should make it clear that your request is without limit of time and scope and that you want full details and information as it existed at any time from 2006 through to the present date. In the meantime I would write back to them and say that you do not agree that ESC A19 does not apply however you are clearly seeking further information to enable you to consider matters further. Also say that you are not prepared to pay any sums at present but will inevitably cooperate with them in relation to any subsequent established debt. Advise them that as matters are still open you look for their agreement that all demands will be put on hold and that they will not take any actions -such as issuing tax returns in relation to the years concerned - until you have obtained the further information you are now requesting from their Data Protection Officer.

Of course in all this you should also consider whether it was reasonable for you to consider that your tax affairs were in order e.g. there was considerable confusion created by HMRC's notices etc but you made reasonable checks that matters were being changed and to bring your tax affairs into order at the appropriate times.