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Inland Revenue cocks it up .... again....

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    Inland Revenue cocks it up .... again....

    http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programme...ox/6184519.stm

    Major IT error at the Revenue
    By Paul Lewis
    BBC Radio 4's Money Box

    Hundreds of thousands of people have been wrongly told they have a tax records gap that may cut their pension.

    The error was caused by a glitch in the Revenue and Customs' tax system used by the UK's largest employers.

    A Revenue spokesman said it did not know how many of the 4.7m notices suggesting people pay £371 had been sent out in error.

    Payroll expert Karen Thomson says the total affected could be 700,000, including many teachers and nurses.

    Speaking to BBC Radio 4's Money Box programme she said: "On average the Revenue produces four million of these notices a year.

    "They have confirmed to us that this year 4.7m will go out to the end of January, so the difference, 700,000 notices, could be incorrect."

    The Revenue challenged this methodology because "there are so many variables" but would not offer an alternative nor confirm or deny that figure.

    But Money Box has evidence that the problem is widespread.

    The programme has been contacted by teachers, doctors, other NHS workers, librarians, people who work at Gatwick, for EDF Energy, for Boots the chemist - even someone who works for HM Revenue & Customs.

    And if one person in the company gets the notice, the rest are likely to as well.

    Angry workers

    Susan Millington, payroll manager at Tameside Borough Council in Manchester which employs 11,000 people, said: "We have had well over a thousand calls. People are very cross.

    "We were told by the Revenue they were aware of the error but they can't do anything to stop it. I just couldn't believe it."

    Keith Parry works for Tameside. He said all his colleagues had received the letter which suggests they pay £371 to "make up the shortfall and protect your entitlement to basic State Pension".

    He rang the helpline and spoke to a Revenue official who "immediately said that it was entirely caused by the Revenue, some sort of computer error and said some two and half million people were involved".

    "I am really shocked, amazed, it's really worrying," he said.

    A Revenue spokesman denied that figure was correct and said it was working through the large employers affected and will eventually be sending letters to all those who have received the notice in error.

    The problem began after the Revenue told all employers with more than 250 staff to file their 2004/05 pay returns electronically.

    The Revenue's computers could not cope, dropped information and missed National Insurance contributions.

    Another computer then sent out letters informing individuals they had a gap.

    Karen Thomson says anyone who has been in work for the whole of 2004/05 should not pay until the position has been clarified.

    If there is a shortfall, they have until 5 April 2011 to pay the extra contributions. The letters have a helpline number for those who are concerned.
    Vieze Oude Man

    #2
    Clowns. If HMG departments were businesses they would have all been wiped off the map long ago.

    Comment


      #3
      It reminds me of the time I was threatened verbally by an Inland Revenue officer, who parked outside my house, and told me he would insist on having my house sold to pay off alleged debts... several weeks later, they eventually found the £16.5k I had paid 3 months previously, and that they had lost track of.

      After all that stress, I got a second class stamped letter telling me my balance with the IR was £0.00. That was it.

      They can manage to sit on my driveway for god knows how long, waiting for me to come home from work, but can't keep track of my tax payments, or say sorry.

      Bunch of thugs who deserve a good fecking beating.
      Vieze Oude Man

      Comment


        #4
        I'd agree, except for last month when I got a 200 quid fine for a non-existent transgression. Within three minutes of me phoning, some bloke in Edinburgh had sorted it out and apologised profusely.

        Not 16 grand though.

        Comment


          #5
          Originally posted by mcquiggd
          It reminds me of the time I was threatened verbally by an Inland Revenue officer, who parked outside my house, and told me he would insist on having my house sold to pay off alleged debts... several weeks later, they eventually found the £16.5k I had paid 3 months previously, and that they had lost track of.

          After all that stress, I got a second class stamped letter telling me my balance with the IR was £0.00. That was it.

          They can manage to sit on my driveway for god knows how long, waiting for me to come home from work, but can't keep track of my tax payments, or say sorry.

          Bunch of thugs who deserve a good fecking beating.
          Had the same thing happen to me, several times. It was another reason for moving most of my business interests to Denmark. Oh, and the overall tax is lower here as well, which helped.
          Insanity: repeating the same actions, but expecting different results.
          threadeds website, and here's my blog.

          Comment


            #6
            At the time I was amazed at how much effort they would expend to try to intimidate me, when all they had to do was check the transfer of money from my business bank account to theirs... I had already sent copies of the electronic receipts.

            That they repeatedly sent someone to sit outside my house, and wait for me, was just so much wasted effort. Some big businesses owe millions... have done for years... yet they managed to find the time to sit outside my house for money I had already paid. I wish I had recorded the guy who harrassed me - and next time, if it happens again, I will - as he acted like some sort of dodgy debt collector, yet was a member of HMRC. He used physical, as well as verbal intimidation.
            Vieze Oude Man

            Comment


              #7
              Originally posted by mcquiggd
              I wish I had recorded the guy who harrassed me - and next time, if it happens again, I will - as he acted like some sort of dodgy debt collector, yet was a member of HMRC. He used physical, as well as verbal intimidation.
              Lesson 1. Always get their name. Even if you didn't they should have records of who it was.

              What kind of phyiscal intimidation? Any physical contact?
              Behold the warranty -- the bold print giveth and the fine print taketh away.

              Comment

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