Non-motoring > Tax Returns Miscellaneous
Thread Author: Manatee Replies: 21

 Tax Returns - Manatee
Hope you've all done them. I used to do ours in October, working to the old deadline, but I let it slip again this year and nearly forgot.

What a performance. My government gateway login works, but not for self-assessment, for which I have to use 'verification'. I had digital verification set up with the Post Office, but last year it said they couldn't verify me so I set one up with Experian. This year, Experian said they no longer have enough info to confirm my identity so I set up yet another with Digidentity. That involved much entering of codes sent to my phone and email, scanning my passport and DL, and taking a selfie. I've just checked my SMS's and I have have 2 codes each from gov.uk and Experian, and 7 from Digidentity.

Then I find I have given them the wrong amount for my state pension, having used this year's pension increase letter by mistake instead of last year's. You're supposed to be able to change it even after submission, but you only get that option if you can sign in with government gateway.

So don't try to do it at 23.30 on the 31st.
 Tax Returns - Robin O'Reliant
Return submitted on 29th December, bill paid on 7th January.

I always do my Self Assessment between Christmas and New Year, I have a dread of leaving it late and getting a computer problem. I never have a problem with Gateway, I just log in and get a code sent to my mobile.
 Tax Returns - sooty123
Only ever been paye, so never had to do a tax return, however I've had to the government gateway. I've been locked out of it for a year or more, no one seems to know how to unlock it. I ended up doing some bits of it over the phone. I don't need it anymore, so I've just given up.
God knows what'll happen if I ever need to use it again.
 Tax Returns - legacylad
I always used an accountant to do my tax return for the retail shops which each had their own set of accounts. When I left that career behind and did several part time jobs plus my own small ‘building services’ business I began with self assessment. It all went smoothly..suppose I was fortunate.
These days I log onto the Gateway once a year to reclaim tax when I do an annual drawdown from my private pension. Which I’m currently waiting for as I decided not to drawdown in the current tax year until the markets had recovered somewhat.
 Tax Returns - zippy
Did mine a couple of weeks back. The taxman owes me £1,700 odd, and I haven't seen it yet!

I should have done it sooner as I had all the necessary info by the end of October.

BTW I use the Post Office for verification and they have been flawless with me. When I had the need to call their helpline because of my error, I got through so quickly I thought I had dialled the wrong number!

I was able to edit the return.
 Tax Returns - zippy
>> Did mine a couple of weeks back. The taxman owes me £1,700 odd, and I
>> haven't seen it yet!
>>

They are clearly watching us! :-)

The payment was in my account this morning.
 Tax Returns - smokie
I was owed some for 20/21, on the strength of having been emergency taxed on my one and only drawdown this year. I filled in the appropriate form (on which you state that you won't have any other taxable income this tax year) and the money was with me within about a week. I was quite impressed. I let it happen naturally last year and it took quite few months to come thorough.
 Tax Returns - Robin O'Reliant
>> I always used an accountant to do my tax return for the retail shops which
>> each had their own set of accounts.
>>

The only time I've been in trouble with tax was in the early nineties and that was down to my then accountant. He and his partner split sharing their clients between them and mine got overwhelmed with with his workload. The first I knew about it was when I got letter from the Inland Revenue (As it was then) asking me when I had ceased trading, sent because they had not received a return from me the previous year. This led to an eighteen month long tax investigation filled with worry as they queried ever single expense, demanded bank and finance statements, proof of all household outgoings etc etc.

It was resolved peacefully in the end, but it was not an experience I'd want to go through again as they have a tactic of dropping speculative demands for thousands of pounds through your letter box to panic you if they think you are dragging your heels, always timed to arrive on the Friday of a bank holiday weekend to cause you maximum worry. The taxman is not someone you'd want to get in a scrap with.
Last edited by: Robin O'Reliant on Sun 24 Jan 21 at 21:58
 Tax Returns - Manatee
>>I never have a problem with Gateway, I just log in and get a code sent to my mobile.

The boss's is OK. It's just this verification route that I got forced into 4 or 5 years ago.

>>I have a dread of leaving it late and getting a computer problem

I have a dread of finding I'm missing a P60. I have 5 of them now.

The system itself is not very user friendly but it stood up pretty well given what must have been enormous volumes this weekend.
 Tax Returns - zippy
>> The system itself is not very user friendly but it stood up pretty well given
>> what must have been enormous volumes this weekend.
>>

I wonder if it uses AWS? Companies House did when it was in Beta.
 Tax Returns - Bromptonaut
>> What a performance. My government gateway login works, but not for self-assessment, for which I
>> have to use 'verification'. I had digital verification set up with the Post Office, but
>> last year it said they couldn't verify me so I set one up with Experian.
>> This year, Experian said they no longer have enough info to confirm my identity so
>> I set up yet another with Digidentity. That involved much entering of codes sent to
>> my phone and email, scanning my passport and DL, and taking a selfie. I've just
>> checked my SMS's and I have have 2 codes each from gov.uk and Experian, and
>> 7 from Digidentity.

And you're needing to prove tax on income you've had and spent or saved.

Now imagine you need to 'pass' the gateway for Universal Credit so you can pay your rent and feed the kids.....
 Tax Returns - zippy
>> Now imagine you need to 'pass' the gateway for Universal Credit so you can pay
>> your rent and feed the kids.....
>>

We have no heating or hot water at the moment (fan and oil heaters are heating the lounge and will be moved to the bedrooms later).

I had to be in my office for a few hours earlier and noticed that a task that usually took 10 minutes took most of an hour, due to being freezing.

Goodness what it would be like for someone who hasn't eaten properly and can't afford heating in this weather!
 Tax Returns - Manatee

>>
>> And you're needing to prove tax on income you've had and spent or saved.
>>
>> Now imagine you need to 'pass' the gateway for Universal Credit so you can pay
>> your rent and feed the kids.....
>>

Well you started the thread drift, just remember that!

Believe me I have a great deal of sympathy - I've always had a fear of having to live on benefits and even as somebody who has never had to I want a system that allows people to have a decent basic life in that situation. I honestly believe we should accept the inevitable deadweight cost of that and by doing so we would make society better for everybody. The idea that welfare has to involve shame, deprivation and administrative hurdles to prevent it being a lifestyle choice is one that has taken deep root in conservative (small c) thinking, ever since the invention of the workhouse.

Removing that would have a cost but it would also bring upsides, not least that people would be much more inclined to take risk to improve their lives if there was a reliable safety net, maybe even a Universal Basic Income. Anybody on UC who takes a job that doesn't work out has to endure the process and the gap in income all over again.

When I and the boss first set up home having taken on a mortgage, and even more when we had children, even as someone with skills and a decent job our financial insecurity was always in the back of my mind. I can still remember how my spirits lifted when I first had 3 clear months of salary saved against the proverbial rainy day.

I became my dad. In the 1950's, even though our family of four lived in a 'slum' along with about 50% of the population, the neighbours thought we were well off. We weren't, but Dad could see into the future. Every week his wage was divided into separate compartments of a cash box so when the coalman came the money was always there to fill the coal hole and we always had shillings for the meters. We even had money to go on holiday for 2 weeks in the summer, saved in 1/50 increments over the year. He could have been the inspiration for Wilkins Micawber.

I often say money doesn't matter as long as we don't run out, and I mean it. If it does run out, or even threatens to, it becomes the monster that pushes everything else out.
 Tax Returns - hjd
>>
>> Then I find I have given them the wrong amount for my state pension, having
>> used this year's pension increase letter by mistake instead of last year's. You're supposed to
>> be able to change it even after submission, but you only get that option if
>> you can sign in with government gateway.
>>
>> So don't try to do it at 23.30 on the 31st.
>>
HMRC will issue you with an amended calculation when they upload your actual pension figures to their system and it is checked.
Wrong amounts on the tax return happen quite frequently as most people get the pension every 4 weeks, so 13 payments in the year, and they only put down 12.
Easier to have put down too much income and get a repayment.
 Tax Returns - smokie
I set up the digital verification when it came out and AFAIR the company providing the service had stopped doing so when I next went to log in, so I had to re-do it with A.N. Other. That also became difficult for some reason so I've reverted to just using the Govt Gateway login.

Even as PAYE I was always asked to do a tax return and I got caught out once when I inadvertently claimed fuel in two places on the form. I think it was about £600 overclaim, and I had quite a concerning time trying to convince them it was just an error.
 Tax Returns - Duncan
Tax returns eh?

I remember those! Happy days!
 Tax Returns - Zero
Yeah, dont miss them at all.
 Tax Returns - Runfer D'Hills
We've just done both of ours today. We were doing quite well on the "dry January" thing but I fear that tonight will be an exception...
 Tax Returns - Mike H
I'm lucky enough to have to complete a UK tax return as well as an Austrian one, being a brit living abroad.....

We pay an accountant to complete the actual returns and deal with the local tax office on our behalf. We just pass him the information he needs. However, the tax year in Austria is Jan-Dec, which causes no end of complications and queries from the local tax office as they struggle to reconcile different figures. Essentially they assess the total tax I owe them, then they deduct how much I've paid in the UK, and I have to pay the difference. Because the tax years are skewed, it's a bit of a nightmare.
 Tax Returns - No FM2R
Tax declarations are my personal nightmare.

And try mixing up employed, contracted, sub-contracted, productive and sales/service oriented, and national/international if you really want to understand pain. A particular delight is where teh country you live in, the country you work in and the country you're paid in are different locations and currencies and tax laws, along with different tax years and reporting cycles. On top of that lump in charity work where the authorities always assume you're getting some benefit somehow.

UK Tax returns? Suck it up you wusses.
Last edited by: No FM2R on Mon 25 Jan 21 at 17:41
 Tax Returns - Runfer D'Hills
I was "sucking" on a halfway decent malt as you typed old chap...

Chin chin eh?

;-)
 Tax Returns - The Melting Snowman
I submitted mine last June I think, may have been July. But I left the payment until this January as usual. Why do people leave it so late?
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