Re: I Hate PAYE

I'm a mathematician - I have a degree in it. I was self-employed for many years. Not once was I 100% sure that I'd filled in the tax return properly, when it was still using the paper returns.

Did I have masses of complicated tax law to contend with? No. I was paid X amount of money by clients and had ZERO expenses. I kept records and receipts for everything I was paid. I had no pensions, capital gains, bank interest on savings or anything else to worry about - just income. I could have claimed the occasional £2 on a bus fare or something ludicrous but the effort was just not worth it at all, so 99% of my tax return was little boxes marked "0".

The online system actually worked better, but still I couldn't say for sure that I was actually 100% confident that I'd typed in everything correctly and in the right boxes. I was confident I'd pass audit, should it ever happen, because my records were SO simple I could keep years-worth of them in one folder and not claiming any expenses meant that, actually, if anything, I forfeit some rebate for the sake of simplicity - erring on the side of caution. And all of my bank statements and the records of my client would tally perfectly.

When I did check with people who do tax all day, every day, they wanted me to make things ten times more complicated so that I could earn a pittance back in rebates. But they said that, if I didn't want that, then my returns were exactly what they'd have filed. So I didn't do anything "incorrectly", but it *NEVER* was clear that it was correct, at any stage, to a mathematician who could spend DAYS filing the simplest of returns with the simplest of incomes and records.

And one year, they made me pay several thousand pounds (that I didn't have) in tax in advance because "our projections show you'll earn that much next year". They'd refund it later, of course, because their projections were wrong and mine were right, but even so, I had to find several thousand pounds out of thin air, hand it to them for a year - interest-free - under threat of imprisonment, and then only get it back when they were proved wrong and they felt like filling out the paperwork. Their projections were out because the bottom fell out of the market, and I knew that, and had planned for that - so at the worst possible time they demanded lots of money that I didn't have. I had to take out a loan to cover it (and not go to prison), and then pay back MORE every month until my rebate came a year later.

The hassle of a tax return just isn't worth it. Even under an umbrella company, it's worth the commission just to have them sort out that junk for you.

Re: Please get this right

As someone who's had to do a number of PAYE refund requests I know the system quite well.

First, check http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/calcs/stc.htm to see if you are due a refund.

If you are still in employment with the same employer, when you get your P60 with the overpayment on it, ring 01355 359 022 and ask them to arrange a refund. If they give you the run around, request a form R38, then use that, with a covering letter and a print out of the tax checker calculation summary page linked above.

If you are no longer in employment with the same employer, just use form P50 from http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/pdfs/p50.pdf and send it to HM Revenue & Customs, Pay As You Earn, PO Box 1970, LIVERPOOL, L75 1WX.

If you don't agree with their decision, follow http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/factsheets/hmrc1.pdf *within 30 days*.

Good luck!

@Lee Dowling

Coincidentally, I've also got a degree in maths, I'm self-employed and I don't claim my trivial expenses. And filling in a tax return really isn't hard. If your affairs are simple then there are about six boxes you have to put numbers into. What's the problem?

If HMRC ask for a payment on account for money you won't be earning, just tell them and they'll cancel it. If you do earn the money anyway they'll charge you interest. If you don't, there's no problem. I did this last year. You don't have to rustle up thousands of pounds from nowhere.