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Leave Me in (Inner) Peace!

If only HM Revenue & Customs were not stopping taxpayers from finding themselves - or at least their tax returns, muses Mark McLaughlin of TaxationWeb...

When questioned by a colleague last week, I was happy to point out that I wasn't one of the 1,548 individuals who filed their tax returns with HMRC on Christmas Day. In fact, I dutifully filed my 2011-12 tax return online a couple of days later.

On 3 January 2013, I received a reminder from HMRC to file my tax return. It said "Our records show that you may not have sent us your tax return for the year ended 5 April 2012. If you have sent it in the last four weeks, thank you." However, the HMRC reminder was dated 13 December 2012. Even allowing for Christmas postal delays, it was a little slow in arriving! In general, I believe that reminder letters are a good thing, and HMRC should be commended for trying to help. However, their message needs to be timely and accurate, or there is no point in sending them out.

I prepared my 79 year old aunt's tax return for 2011-12 in September 2012. She submitted it by hand to the nearest tax office in early October. She was also the recipient of an HMRC reminder dated 13 December 2012. Unfortunately, her tax return has been lost somewhere in HMRC's system. She has been told that she must submit another tax return to avoid a £100 fine. This time I am filing the return online.

There is a certain irony in HMRC's 'inner peace' campaign, because sometimes HMRC don't allow you any - even when you've complied!

TaxationWeb would welcome any feedback on your trials and tribulations in tax return filing during the January rush.

In the meantime, we would like to wish taxpayers and tax agents the best of luck. We hope you find some inner peace!

Best wishes

Mark McLaughlin

Managing Editor