Evidence submitted by Mrs JennyLee Fyfe (tre0089)
This account is based on contractor loan arrangements, which I used for a number of years. At the time, I was a young professional, starting out my career in London, and I obtained professional advice to ensure that the scheme I was using was entirely legal and above board. At all times, the scheme I was using was fully declared on my tax returns. Since then, unfortunately the laws have changed and HMRC are retrospectively re-claiming income tax and other associated monies. Unfortunately this process has been extremely lengthy, stressful and error-prone, as detailed below.
My first discovery assessments were received over 5 years ago, in Feb 2013. I still do not have a satisfactory settlement agreement from HMRC, despite my ongoing cooperation. The entire process has been wrought with errors and unnecessarily drawn-out by HMRC and has caused absolute turmoil for myself and my family, especially because my husband is in the same boat. We have had to factor this unknown financial 'debt' into many major life decisions we've had over the past 5 years, including when to have children and what kind of family house to buy. Despite moving to Australia for a new life, we still have this hanging over our heads, and so we have had to leave all of our savings in England, waiting for the day that we actually know how much we owe (which is likely to be a lot more than the savings we have there). We are desperate to draw a line under this living hell, and would do anything for this to be over, but unfortunately HMRC seem intent on letting it drag on, and all the while, interest continues to accrue. This process has meant we have no trust in HMRC and we have therefore been unwilling to make any payments on account, given we have no confidence in their processes or ability.
I have highlighted specific details of some of the major frustrations, errors and delays that HMRC have caused during this process below:
* One of the original discovery assessments (sent in 2014) was ludicrous. The figures used were totally incorrect; the worst of which being a 'benefits and expenses' figure of £74,150.03 higher than the actual figure I received. After disputing the assessment and providing supporting documentation (P11D and bank statements for the entire year), it took HMRC a year and a half to provide revised tax calculations.
* However, another 5 months later, I then received an APN which completely discounted these revised figures and, instead, was based on the original ludicrous figures. I immediately disputed this APN and, again, sent the same supporting documentation (P11Ds and bank statements) that I'd provided 2 years prior.
* 3 and a half months later, I received a revised APN. Despite the APN being dated 30th May 2017, the post mark on the envelope was dated 30th June and I didn't receive it until 5th July, which was the actual payment date. The revised figure looked correct, but there were no supporting calculations, despite the letter referring to the 'attached' calculation. There was simply a one-pager with the total amount. Given I received this on the due date, I was forced to pay the amount to avoid penalties, despite not being able to verify the calculations. Calculations were sent through to me after I followed up by phone several times.
* A year ago, in 2017, in order to get correct settlement figures for all tax years, I proactively sent HMRC all of my correct loan figures, to ensure that no more incorrect figures were used. However, 3 months later, I was contacted by HMRC to provide documentation to prove one of the loan figures I'd supplied. They requested the very documentation I'd sent TWICE before, 2.5 months prior and again 7 months prior. I provided this same information for a third time.
* A week later, I received settlement calculations, which were incorrect AGAIN. For one tax year, for some unfathomable reason they ESTIMATED my loan amount to be £16,940, which was £12,303.18 higher than the actual figure I had received. In addition to this, despite having paid my student loan off, there were figures totalling £10,069 for 'Student Loan Repayments' incorrectly included in the calculations.
* I immediately responded, disputing the calculations and providing supporting evidence.
* It took nearly 2 months for someone at HMRC to respond, asking me to authorise email correspondence, which I had been requesting for a while, given the incredibly slow turnaround times for post (sometimes I received post on or after the deadline to pay, often making it physically impossible to meet the deadline). I immediately authorised email correspondence, yet it took another 8 days for revised settlement figures to be sent through to me. The figures were finally correct, so I provided the documentation required for a settlement letter of offer.
* 3 months ago, in Feb 2018, I FINALLY received what I expected to be a letter of offer. It outlined the income tax, interest and IHT figures, and included an expected settlement offer. However, the correspondence did not include a formal settlement agreement, and there were absolutely no terms laid out. There was nothing to agree to other than the final figure! Again, I contacted HMRC to request a formal letter of offer, and have chased this request since, but over 2 months later, I am still to get any response.