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Where Taxpayers and Advisers Meet
Editorial - PAYE OVERpayments: The Nightmare Returns!
27/10/2014, by Mark McLaughlin CTA (Fellow) ATT TEP, Tax Articles - General
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Back in June, I reported on my difficulties in obtaining repayment of PAYE tax overpaid from HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) for 2012/13 ('The nightmare of PAYE overpayments').
 
The recommendation to readers of my earlier article was to avoid getting into a position where HMRC owe you money if at all possible, to avoid my unfortunate and frustrating experiences.
 
I was willing to accept that I may have been unlucky on that occasion. However, it seems I am now in the same nightmare scenario.
 
Another PAYE overpayment arose in respect of 2013/14 (the details are unimportant; suffice to say that the overpayment in 2013/14 arose for the same reason as the one in 2012/13).
 
Having been notified by HMRC that a PAYE overpayment had arisen for 2013/14 shortly after the end of the tax year, I patiently waited for a repayment. It never arrived. I therefore rang HMRC on 21 July 2014. After the usual lengthy period waiting for my call to be dealt with, I was eventually told that the repayment was being issued by cheque. However, there was a waiting list (why?), and I was informed that the estimated issue date for the cheque would be 19 September 2014. Oh well...
 
I waited and waited. Finally, I rang HMRC again on 10 October 2014. I was informed that the cheque had not been issued (the person I spoke to was unable to explain the reason for this). He requested a "progress chase" (whatever that is), and I was promised that I would be contacted by 17 October. Guess what? No-one has contacted me yet.
 
I can see a familiar, and quite worrying, pattern developing here. The signs appear to be that HMRC is deliberately procrastinating, particularly after what happened last time. If that is true, HMRC's behaviour is shameful. Even if it is not true, HMRC's service standards are shambolic.
 
I will be ringing HMRC yet again next week. Watch this space...
 
Best wishes,             

Mark McLaughlin

Managing Editor

About The Author

Mark McLaughlin is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Taxation, a Fellow of the Association of Taxation Technicians, and a member of the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners. From January 1998 until December 2018, Mark was a consultant in his own tax practice, Mark McLaughlin Associates, which provided tax consultancy and support services to professional firms throughout the UK.

He is a member of the Chartered Institute of Taxation’s Capital Gains Tax & Investment Income and Succession Taxes Sub-Committees.

Mark is editor and a co-author of HMRC Investigations Handbook (Bloomsbury Professional).

Mark is Chief Contributor to McLaughlin’s Tax Case Review, a monthly journal published by Tax Insider.

Mark is the Editor of the Core Tax Annuals (Bloomsbury Professional), and is a co-author of the ‘Inheritance Tax’ Annuals (Bloomsbury Professional).

Mark is Editor and a co-author of ‘Tax Planning’ (Bloomsbury Professional).

He is a co-author of ‘Ray & McLaughlin’s Practical IHT Planning’ (Bloomsbury Professional)

Mark is a Consultant Editor with Bloomsbury Professional, and co-author of ‘Incorporating and Disincorporating a Business’.

Mark has also written numerous articles for professional publications, including ‘Taxation’, ‘Tax Adviser’, ‘Tolley’s Practical Tax Newsletter’ and ‘Tax Journal’.

Mark is a Director of Tax Insider, and Editor of Tax Insider, Property Tax Insider and Business Tax Insider, which are monthly publications aimed at providing tax tips and tax saving ideas for taxpayers and professional advisers. He is also Editor of Tax Insider Professional, a monthly publication for professional practitioners.

Mark is also a tax lecturer, and has featured in online tax lectures for Tolley Seminars Online.

Mark co-founded TaxationWeb (www.taxationweb.co.uk) in 2002.

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Comments

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trickywoo 03/12/2014 10:05

I am interested to know if you have made any headway with HMRC. I confess I struggle to get anywhere with them most of the time and particularly when it comes to the PAYE overpayment saga.