at a despair - Notice of assessment recevied

[BBdreamz]

evening.. I have just received a notice of assessment for a loan charge saying i have to pay by mid march. This is the first letter I have received. I never received any letters prior to this as some of the threads suggest were sent out. How can HMRC send out an assessment with calculations without any prior notification. I am very distressed and do not know what to do especially when they are also charging interest and a deadline to pay in less than 3 weeks.. Any advice or pointer would be really appreciated as I cannot comprehend even where to begin.

[eek]

evening.. I have just received a notice of assessment for a loan charge saying i have to pay by mid march. This is the first letter I have received. I never received any letters prior to this as some of the threads suggest were sent out. How can HMRC send out an assessment with calculations without any prior notification. I am very distressed and do not know what to do especially when they are also charging interest and a deadline to pay in less than 3 weeks.. Any advice or pointer would be really appreciated as I cannot comprehend even where to begin.

use google to search for WTT Consulting and give them a call tomorrow to organise a phone call...

[ladymuck]

Yes, talk to an expert as soon as is practically possible.

Remember: Help is available and you are not alone.

[BrilloPad]

Other advisers are available.

[eek]

Other advisers are available.

name them and give the OP a clue then

[BrilloPad]

name them and give the OP a clue then

I PMed the OP. I have pointed out that Graham is highly recommended of course.

[webberg]

Morning all.

Thank you for the kind words.

Other advisers are certainly available

You have almost certainly got a discovery assessment which can be appealed and the tax postponed.

However, it means you are on HMRC's radar and you are at the beginning of a journey.

By all means get in touch.

First call is free and no obligation.

[Captain Slog]

Evening,
I feel the need to vent, but in the most practical and helpful way possible, in the hope it may help others and, of course, elicit some soothing and guiding advice!

I fell foul of Montpelier and after too many years of stress, barrack room advice and misleading comms with HMRC elected to settle up and be rid of them. I was a fool back then with Montpelier and feel a bigger fool now for expecting HMRC to be trustworthy, open and honest.

I’ve ended up repaying more than I could afford (my fault for having a life and children in the 15 or so intervening years) but they keep coming back for more! I paid the accelerated payments and am part way through paying thousands per month to settle the penalties that amount broadly to another 50% on top. Today I received another letter advising I owed around £20k - no problem I thought, obviously an error because I’m already paying a plan. Wrong! It seems they ‘did me a favour’ by not telling me about this bit, because it would have been too much to have a plan for (bless ‘em) - regardless, they’ve bunged on another £2k in surcharges!

Helpfully I was told I can appeal these, in writing via snail-mail, I can request a transcript of the call when I arranged the payment plan (if I submit a SAR in writing... Has anyone ever had anything useful from a HMRC SAR? I recall being sent some blank sheets and an explanation of exemption). Maybe one of their groovy, agile, CXP, dudes has directed a YouTube video to clue me in!?

I running out of fake calm now and don’t know what point I intended to make. I suppose it’s a plea to see if this seems right (given that ‘fair’ has given up the ghost)? Does anyone, anywhere (accepting that HMRC have no clue what’s going on) have any idea where the demands will end? What taxes, charges, penalties and surcharges are waiting around the corner? I know that seems as daft as the rest of my rant but is there a list anywhere? I thought I was working/ paying through it and begrudgingly thought it’d make them go away, but one of the threads/ responses above worried me because I feel like that ‘soft touch’ that scammers get hold of and pass to their friends - I put my head up and my hand in my pocket to fix this, and they’ve taken, and taken, and made up more stuff to try and take more...
I feel like if I’d declared some kind of personal bankruptcy, I’d have been out the other side by now - I wouldn’t have slept well for a while, but I’d now be sleeping better than I have for about 15 years though!
If I could end with some advice for newbies or anyone thinking about a scheme - go in with your eyes open, an exit plan and a commitment to put your life on hold for a couple or more decades.

Oh, and don’t trust HMRC... they may not all be malicious, but, my general perception (even having worked there) is they don’t comprehend, don’t care or are incompetent... compounded by the lack of decent systems, processes or management. I will vouch for a small number who may be competent but in their environment, with their leadership they see us not as customers but as foes.

Gone off track a bit there...

Tone to go

[DealorNoDeal]

I assume the 50% penalties were for not complying with the Follower Notices?

And the surcharges were for not paying the accelerated payments on time?

They should really have included the surcharges in your settlement, not springing them on you at a later date. After all, what's the point in having a settlement agreement if it doesn't include everything?

It might be worth consulting an advisor, like webberg, to see if they are permitted to do this.

I don't want to add to your stress levels but did your settlement agreement include interest?

[dangermaus]

I would certainly agree with the incompetent part. Today I received a notice of assessment for 2015/2016 and when my accountant phoned HMRC to tell them I had already settled that year their response was "Oh yes I see you are correct. Well you can ignore that letter then!"

Surely this level of general incompetence is not acceptable for such an important government department...