Got a letter this morning from Advantis debt collection agency acting for HMRC. It didn't specify what the money owed was for but checking our records I saw it was for Corporation Tax due in February, which we paid. I rang agency and gave them details and contacted HMRC via online chat. They confirmed the payment was made and they would resolve by 16 November (why can't they resolve now) and didn't apologise. I asked the operator whether their error could affect our company's credit waiting, she said she wasn't sure but wouldn't think so!
Mistakes happen, but what sort of scum goes direct to a debt collection agency without contacting us first? I spoke to our accountant and he told me he has seen this before. Anybody else had dealings with this joke of an organisation?
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I had correspondence from 8 different tax offices about it and when I phoned each one, none were able to help.
I eventually sent my arguments (which amounted to about 40 pages including copies of documents they had sent me) to each of the 8 offices and asked them to nominate one to deal with my complaint.
Eventually, they did, and they found in my favour and said I didn't owe the tax they claimed.
Even that was wrong because I did owe the tax but I got away with it because they hadn't followed their own guidelines (which I quoted to them).
Like you say, a joke of an organisation who don't know what they are doing.
The corporation tax section of HMRC are absolute scum as Angela Rayner MP might say.
Compare and contrast what you are suffering with their attitude to corporation tax refunds. It takes them months to process them and invariably to get the money you have to repeatedly write or even lodge a complaint for them to finally part with the money companies are rightfully and lawfully entitled to.
It is my personal belief that they 'try it on' with refunds and play on the lack of knowledge of non finance specialist company directors and sometimes their accountants who act as agents. Large firms of accountants have a high staff turnover and it is easy for knowledge of a potential refund to get 'lost' when there is no continuity.
And yes, as you say, the ignorant c**** NEVER apologise!
Are you sure HMRC has the correct correspondence address for your company? Just cos a recovery agent found the right address doesn't mean HMRC has ever been formally told. Their records don't update themselves and it ain't HMRC's responsibility to find out.
The amount had been paid but had it been paid under precisely the correct reference? Any mismatch in the payment reference and they'll receive the funds with no way of knowing how it is to be allocated. Again it is the taxpayer's sole responsibility to ensure all that is correct.
When these apparent anomalies crop up they are almost always resolved with a phone call. None of it is personal, almost the entire process is automated with zero human involvement. ALL the data fed into the system comes from the taxpayer.
Sounds like you'd benefit from a better accountant
Long story short, I had to fill in a form and send it back in a pre addressed envelope. About a year later they contacted me about the money to which I replied that I sent the form off a year previous only to be met with - "We have lost it internally so can you fill in another one?" - Of course i declined!
On a side note, the pre printed envelope they sent had the wrong post code printed on it!!
They do try bully boy tactics a lot of the time.
However they are shit scared of decent accountants and the threat of legal action (if it comes to that).
The industry my Mrs works in means that her 2nd and 3rd quarter charges are usually a lot more than the 1st and 4th, but last year the 3rd was even more higher than normal and so I only paid half of the 24.8% social charges online and waited for the reminder to come in the post, to then take a copy and send a cheque to them for the balance. I was happy doing this as I'd done it a couple of times in the past, and it was never a problem. Anyway, we waited for the reminder and nothing come. One morning , a couple of weeks later, I found a hand delivered calling card from a bailiff in our post box saying to call them urgently. I went straight to the computer, logged on to their website followed the instructions and paid the remaining balance by card, plus a €45 odd fee. A few minutes later, I checked Mrs emails and they sent confirmation to say that it was sorted. A little bit pissed off as it was escalated so quickly without any reminder, but happy it had been paid.
Another couple of days later when checking our bank, I was horrified to see €9922.22 had been taken so once I picked my arsehole up off the floor, I jumped in the motor and made the 45 minute journey down to the bailiff office to see what the hell was going on. Got there and the girl said that the cheque I paid them had bounced, once I explained that I'd paid by card online and showed her the confirmation, she went off and made a phone call and come back saying it had been returned, but would take a couple of days. The following week (about 7 days later), sure enough, the money showed up. Then a couple of weeks after that, there was a charge of over €240 (cant remember exactly) taken out with same description. When I questioned this with the bank this time, they said it was the bailiffs fee.
So, not only do they have the power to confiscate your money here, they even take their fee without issuing a bill or even telling you. All on behalf of the state
Got a cheque for £250 this morning
if it wasn’t for all the times I’ve had one over on them over the years I’d be quite upset.
They owed you £750 though
I remember when I owed several thousands in tax and didn't have the funds to pay them all in one go . I managed to get hold of the help line number and despite asking them to set up a repayment plan all I got told, and in no uncertain terms was that I had to pay up staright away! So much for for the help eh?