One thing at a time

[pawncob]

In October 2022 I submitted the final partnership return for a client. Cessation 05/04/2022 and no tax due.
In December 2022 HMRC rejected the return, as Boxes 3.24-3.26 had been completed in error. (I'm sending back a scanned image of the return- NO they didn't)
I replied with amendments made on an office copy and a new signature as they requested.

On 23rd January 2024 they responded- "You have not entered the UTR for all the partners", and this time they sent a copy of the return and a blank 21/22 return.
As the space for signature already had two signatures on it, I completed the blank return and sent it back, with no amendments to the UTRs, which were correct, and an amendment to Box 3.46 (Cost of Sales).

Not only is the time scale unbelievable, but I find it incredible that when checking a return for errors, they don't check the whole of the return, but reject it every time they discover a new error.
Has anyone else encountered this lunacy?

[pawncob]

Update. HMRC have now issued penalty notices for a late return, ignoring the fact that the original return was submitted 17 months ago. Unbelievable.

[etf]

Not my area of expertise, but I am equally frustrated by HMRC dealing with post/returns out of the sequence. I've got a couple of 2022/23 returns that they've held for months but have not yet been fully processed.

I also had a couple of returns this year where they amended the calculation and then a few days later amended it again to show the amount shown on the original return. Both amended calculations you receive say something along the lines of 'we've corrected'...instead the second one should state 'we screwed up our initial tax calculation and have now corrected it back to your original calculation'....they are just not open and honest and are wasting public money on postage alone.

[pawncob]

Update: HMRC have now issued 12 penalty notices, including one with an unknown UTR in the name of a partner.
I think the digital world of HMRC needs a reboot.