ID fraud. I've been scammed!

[ufkacbln]

As I said, this would be one of the most pathetic and inept scams going if it was a scam as it is very easily picked up

The typical scam for businesses like this is either under declaration of revenue (cash jobs) or over declaration of costs (fictitious invoices). With fictitious invoices the way it works is that the company actually pays the invoices (otherwise they would sit on the books forever and look suspicious) but the recipient of the cash is some bank account connected to the owner of the company

I remember a Chinese Restaurant that was investigated and it was the number of foil dishes that were being used that were their downfall.

The number being used far exceeded the number of meals they claimed they were selling, and this led to the proof of undeclared sales

 

[classic33]

@Brandane, did you try any of the numbers?

 

[Brandane]

@Brandane, did you try any of the numbers?

No; I don't think it's my place to investigate. I will leave it up to HMRC., it is their case. Ultimately they are the "victim" rather than me, and a call from me to any suspect might even prejudice or obstruct their investigation, especially as there is a chance that this could all just be an admin error. I don't know the full circumstances. Been busy today attending funerals anyway; 2 of them, both at the same crematorium!

 

[marknotgeorge]

As well as multiple employers, I also have a pension which is my main income. As it is a constant, that is my "main employer" and any income on top of that is taxed at BR (basic rate). It's often a PITA when you start with a new employer who don't seem able to grasp the concept that you need to pay basic rate tax from the off.

That should be trivial, as long as you're ticking the tight box on the P46.

 

[Pat "5mph"]

The problem arises though when people have multiple employers on the go at the same time, as I have/did. Thanks to zero hour contracts and temporary work, I suspect a lot of people will be in the same boat. At one point last year I think I had 4 different employers, all current at that time, as 3 were agencies who I would play against each other just to make sure I got enough work without doing too much! In fact, technically speaking I still have 4 employers as I have not made myself "unavailable" to them and requested a P45..

Similar here, but to make life easy I employ an accountant to do my tax return

 

[Brandane]

Similar here, but to make life easy I employ an accountant to do my tax return

I did that, once! The guy charged me £80, and it was when I was driving taxis - supposedly self employed but not really, a bit like Uber just now. Anything I asked about which I thought might have reduced my tax bill was answered with a "no, that's not claimable expenses". So basically a waste of £80 since it's easy enough to fill in the boxes of an on-line tax return, and that is what I now do. It takes a couple of hours, but as long as you have the necessary P45/P60 forms it's quite straightforward.

 

[subaqua]

yup fill in yourself claim for everything you think can. if not allowable the tax office won't let you and used to amend then reissue.

 

[Deleted member 26715]

I've been doing tax returns every year since 2003 when I declared myself self employed for a few months. Never had a rebate yet; it's always ME who owes THEM, even if just a few quid.

But if you are self-employed why are the employers (agencies) paying your tax, when I was self-employed HGV driver I used to get paid in full with no tax deduction & then pay it all at year end, after expenses etc.

 

[Bazzer]

But if you are self-employed why are the employers (agencies) paying your tax, when I was self-employed HGV driver I used to get paid in full with no tax deduction & then pay it all at year end, after expenses etc.

Don't think @Brandane said he was self employed for all his jobs. Just for a period of a few months.

yup fill in yourself claim for everything you think can. if not allowable the tax office won't let you and used to amend then reissue.

Not entirely accurate.
Some errors within returns do get picked up as part of the software which manages the system and an amendment to the self assessment will be made without an enquiry being made. Other returns will be risk assessed for enquiry whilst others will be chosen for enquiry at random. Ultimately you are self assessing and therefore responsible both for the accuracy of the return entries but also payment at the correct time of the tax and possibly NIC which arises from those return entries. If amendments are required to a self assessment because a claim was found to be incorrect, you may face interest and penalties in addition to having to pay the additional tax.

 

[Bromptonaut]

You can only have one main employer to which your personal allowance is applied and then every other employer is notified that you are using that allowance elsewhere and to tax you appropriately. You can choose your main employer by telling HMRC.

Not unknown for HMRC to split the PA between two employers where it's possible it will not be fully utilised against 'main' employment.

For a while Mrs B's main employment was supply teaching. Fluctuating earnings and in some years less than PA. Also did a single piece of freelance curriculum development stuff for a University which was paid BR via their payroll. In following year her main employment tax code was reduced by around £2k. Turned out HMRC had allocated part of her PA to the University.

Only took a phone call to sort it out but a long wait time to be answered.

 

[subaqua]

Don't think @Brandane said he was self employed for all his jobs. Just for a period of a few months.



Not entirely accurate.
Some errors within returns do get picked up as part of the software which manages the system and an amendment to the self assessment will be made without an enquiry being made. Other returns will be risk assessed for enquiry whilst others will be chosen for enquiry at random. Ultimately you are self assessing and therefore responsible both for the accuracy of the return entries but also payment at the correct time of the tax and possibly NIC which arises from those return entries. If amendments are required to a self assessment because a claim was found to be incorrect, you may face interest and penalties in addition to having to pay the additional tax.

I started doing tax returns when they were paper based , the electronic ones i do now are based on the stuff claimed since then. the tax office is really good for advice and its FREE !