PAYE Fiasco – should the UKBF accountants help?

[elaine@cheapaccounting]

Some time us accountants on here talked about offering some free time to a tax clinic (Zeno’s idea – where is he!)


http://www.ukbusinessforums.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=154676&highlight=charity


Anyway as an idea how about this?


The 1.4 million people who have to repay HMRC are likely to be pure PAYE tax payers and unlikely to have an accountant or completed a self assessment.


If they had completed a self assessment the tax would have been calculated correctly!


So how about we offer a free checking service on the rebates plus advice on what to do if you are in that situation for example offer a standard letter to send etc.


I am happy to set up a mail address for it plus ask Sift to set up a sticky or whatever.


I will ask my chaps to be involved but also would like volunteers from the accountants on here.


Interested?


Then please let me know by email, PM or reply here.

 

[E Storey]

How would it work - What if we get overwhelmed by responses?

 

[elaine@cheapaccounting]

How would it work - What if we get overwhelmed by responses?

If we are overwhelmed - then there is a story to tell isn't there

Let's get it going first.

I will handle admin and we can give a time to respond e.g. 1 week etc

The main thing is to offer those impacted by this a place to go to get help.

Interested?

 

[MyAccountantOnline]

Hi Elaine - yes indeed count me in!

 

[elaine@cheapaccounting]

Hi Elaine - yes indeed count me in!

good - any more of you lot?!

 

[MyAccountantOnline]

It would be great to see some of the newcomers contributing as well.

 

[MyAccountantOnline]

It would be great to see some of the newcomers contributing as well.

Surely after 322 viewings and with the number of accountants who post on here we can drum up a little more support

 

[BudgetB]

I would be happy to help if you are looking for more volunteers...

 

[GaryMc]

Is it a fiasco though? Reading the likes of Rebecca Bennyworth and Mark Lee, it is the media that has made it an issue

 

[Rolo Tomasi]

Checking a Revenue computation would be fine but surely folks will want to know why they have over/under paid tax and reconciling this can take a considerable amount of time. We would need to get copies of payslips, P60s, P11ds, tax code notices etc and even then cannot always get to a satisfactory answer.

Tax computations themselves are usually accurate, it the information they are based on which is wrong. If somebody wants me to investigate where the Revenue have got their figures from I think this should be a service which they pay for.

 

[elaine@cheapaccounting]

Checking a Revenue computation would be fine but surely folks will want to know why they have over/under paid tax and reconciling this can take a considerable amount of time. We would need to get copies of payslips, P60s, P11ds, tax code notices etc and even then cannot always get to a satisfactory answer.

Tax computations themselves are usually accurate, it the information they are based on which is wrong. If somebody wants me to investigate where the Revenue have got their figures from I think this should be a service which they pay for.

copies of P45s and P60s are all that is needed.

Generally the issue will have arisen for the reasons that I talk about in my blog:

http://www.cheapaccounting.co.uk/blog/?p=802

It happens all the time and most think that being on PAYE means the tax is correct.

IMO and of course we are all entitled to our views ...

I think we can offer something here to help the 1.4 million who owe money to see why it is due and help with 'time to pay' of needed.

My view (any just my view!) is that people hit the hardest will be ones where they have changed jobs often / have more than one job / probably low earnings / will not have an accountant / letter from HMRC will scare them

I want to offer them a free place to get advice etc

They will not be clients.

Only general advice given plus standard letters.

Free service - us (the ones who are helping) giving a bit of our time free, like we do on here really.

The recipient needs to help themself by getting all of their paper work together.

Let's not make it any more complex than it needs to be.

So Nicola it is you me and a couple of my Associates - still interested.

Shall we talk?

 

[MyAccountantOnline]

Hi Elaine I'm very happy to help. Pop me over an email and we'll go from there.

 

[maxine]

Hi Elaine

I cant help with SA advice but will throw my hat in the ring for helping to co-ordinate, administer, communicate, handle inbound calls, so it takes the pressure of the workers if ya like

 

[elaine@cheapaccounting]

Hi Elaine I'm very happy to help. Pop me over an email and we'll go from there.

Great will do

 

[elaine@cheapaccounting]

Hi Elaine

I cant help with SA advice but will throw my hat in the ring for helping to co-ordinate, administer, communicate, handle inbound calls, so it takes the pressure of the workers if ya like

Thank you Max - that is brilliant

 

[dp0848]

My hat's in the ring!

David.

 

[MyAccountantOnline]

I really like the idea that I can give a little back for free to those who really need it.

 

[elaine@cheapaccounting]

I would be happy to help if you are looking for more volunteers...

Great - thank you

Sorry I am not familiar with your background. How much PAYE / self assessment experience do you have?

 

[elaine@cheapaccounting]

Great - so that is :

me, two of my chaps so far (others will volunteer as well), Nicola, David, Max and 'BudegtB'.

Jenni is on hols in case people were wondering.

Right - let me set up an email address and have a word to get a thread started for it.

Be back soon

 

[GaryMc]

Will be some great publicity in this - get talking to JohnS at AWeb - community spirited Justice League of Accountants!

 

[MyAccountantOnline]

Great - so that is :

me, two of my chaps so far (others will volunteer as well), Nicola, David, Max and 'BudegtB'.

Is that they WILL volunteer (she says getting the thumb screws out)....

Only joking.

 

[elaine@cheapaccounting]

Is that they WILL volunteer (she says getting the thumb screws out)....

Only joking.

I'm sure it will be in their best interests to help

 

[dp0848]

I'm sure it will be in their best interests to help

I'd expect nothing less from our very own Elaine.

 

[elaine@cheapaccounting]

Will be some great publicity in this - get talking to JohnS at AWeb - community spirited Justice League of Accountants!

Do you have his email address please - can you PM me with it

 

[Williams lester]

Count me in as well Elaine.

 

[elaine@cheapaccounting]

Count me in as well Elaine.

Great Dave - thank you

 

[Philip Hoyle]

And me too!

 

[elaine@cheapaccounting]

OK volunteers needed for the following please:

- to write 'copy' for thread and press release to launch this
- to write a standard letter for someone to use to ask for more time

What I have done / am doing:

- set up an email address
- will contact Sift this afternoon
- set up logging system for emails and an auto responder including sheet for them to enter pay details on

Suggest that each email is allocate to those involved on a round robin basis

Auto responder will ask them for all P45 / P60 details and scan of letter from HMRC

What else?

 

[elaine@cheapaccounting]

And me too!

Great news - thanks Philip

 

[elaine@cheapaccounting]

Just talked to Max - she is going to site up a help line and write the copy for the thread / publicity

THANK YOU MAX

Great that we can all work this together.

 

[Alpha]

You can add us to the list Elaine

 

[MyAccountantOnline]

Thats fantastic - I cant see anything obviously missing from your 'to do' list.

 

[Carleton775]

Hi

I am one of Elaine's Associates and I am happy to help out too.

Carleton Long

 

[elaine@cheapaccounting]

You can add us to the list Elaine

great news thanks Alan

 

[elaine@cheapaccounting]

Hi

I am one of Elaine's Associates and I am happy to help out too.

Carleton Long

welcome to the forum Carleton.

Everyone this is Carleton:

http://www.cheapaccounting.co.uk/carletonlong/

Be nice to him

 

[MyAccountantOnline]

Hi

I am one of Elaine's Associates and I am happy to help out too.

Carleton Long

Hi Carleton

I'm guessing we're not too far apart. Where in Wiltshire are you?

 

[Carleton775]

Hi Nicola

I live in Brinkworth just behind Wotton Bassett off J16.

 

[RAL]

Elaine

Would be happy to help. Just wondering, how the logistic would work.

Just got an email from a PWC, stating that HMRC would not pursue underpayments of up to £300, an increase from the previous threshold of £50. This applied to 40% of the all underpayments.

So I think about 840,000 people would need help. the email also stated that apparently 45,000 to 50,000 taxpayers are being used as a trial so that the information and the lessons learned can be used in dealing with the remaining cases. The letters sent out with a tax calculation P800, being delivered week commencing 6 September.

 

[AndreaD]

Hi

I am also one of Elaine's associates and I will be helping out with this (no thumb screws required)

Andrea Dobson

 

[elaine@cheapaccounting]

Elaine

Would be happy to help. Just wondering, how the logistic would work.

Just got an email from a PWC, stating that HMRC would not pursue underpayments of up to £300, an increase from the previous threshold of £50. This applied to 40% of the all underpayments.

So I think about 840,000 people would need help. the email also stated that apparently 45,000 to 50,000 taxpayers are being used as a trial so that the information and the lessons learned can be used in dealing with the remaining cases. The letters sent out with a tax calculation P800, being delivered week commencing 6 September.

Great thanks for helping.

yes I have seem the increase to £300 - announced last week.

The 840,000 will be receiving letters between now and Xmas.

In terms of how this works - well I think we have to try it and see!

I have sent a message to Dan Martin to see if we can get a forum here which for me would be the best way to run it.

We can use that to share advice, standard letters etc.

The intention has to be for the tax payer to get help / advice from us but also to help themselves.

IMO this will happen again - see my blog:

http://www.cheapaccounting.co.uk/blog/?p=802

So we can also provide some 'education' on how to get the tax code right.

So I await a response from Dan about a forum on here.

I don't think we will hear from all 840,000 people though!