HMRC cant find my £50k payment?

HMRC Executors Payment of Deceased Estate CGT

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I received some good help a while ago regarding the calculation of some CGT that my late friend had not declared on a property he had sold a couple of years before he passed away.

Here's the story to date - sorry it's a bit long:

I calculated that £46357 was due. My accountant agreed and forwarded this to HMRC with a covering letter..

An HMRC officer replied that "his senior officer had accepted the calculation and proposed that the matter be dealt with informally to enable the position to be settled"

I wrote a cheque, and completed the enclosed payslip which had space only for my friends NI Number, so his Unique Taxpayer Reference was not included, but I did quote the reference from the acceptance letter which was 65/PRE**A, (** refer to a couple of numbers). The letter and cheque were received by HMRC at 6.55am 23rd June signed for by Jeff, and the cheque was actually presented the same day. It showed as cashed from my bank account 27th June.

My bank tell me that, when presented, the cheque was stamped with the following:

Barclays 206570 49100502 23-06-16

206158

6230355910003620

The lady at my bank said that the first line looked like Bank, Sort Code, Account Number, Date.

The second line could be a sort code, and the third line is anybodys guess.

So, as of 27th June 2016, I have sent the cheque, and made sure it had been received and cashed. On 28th July I received a Notice of Further Assessment asking for £46357 plus interest of £3434.64 to 21st July 2016, and a threat of a 5% penalty if not paid within 30 days of its' due date.

I wrote to the officer with copies of everything showing that I'd sent the cheque etc.. but heard nothing by 11th August so called HMRC. The person I spoke with said he couldnt see any record of my letter, but that I shouldnt worry as if it had been cashed, all would be well - he was going to chase the accounts department and ask them to call me once they had found it. I wasnt particularly inspired with confidence.

On Wednesday this week, (17th Aug), I called my bank and got the presentation details from the back of the cheque, (quoted above), and I called HMRC today on the pretext of providing the info from the cheque, and to see how things were going.

I was told that they had now received my letter from late July, (marked received 3rd Aug), that a request had been sent to the accounts dept last week, that my payment had not yet been found, and that the details from the cashed cheque would be forwarded to the accounts department.

This is where things are up to and I am obviously worried about what might happen if they cant find my payment. I am tempted to ask my bank to recover the money, (I dont know if I can do that), so I can perhaps set up an online payment thing, and pay it against the Unique Taxpayer Reference.

Any suggestions? Do I have to let the HMRC wheels turn? Would it be worth making a formal complaint? Anything else that might help them find my money?

Many Thanks,

 

Richard

Replies (6)

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By Marion Hayes
19th Aug 2016 15:27

No good talking to HMRC normal line.
Phone accounts office and give them the date it cleared the bank, cheque number, account number and sort code of the cheque. They have a magic tracing programme which can find the cheque in seconds and if you then give them the reference they are chasing they can reallocate it straight away.

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Replying to Marion Hayes:
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By richard10002
20th Aug 2016 13:43

Many thanks. Can you help with how I get to the accounts department? I had enough trouble getting through the automated system to speak to someone in the first place :(

Is there a separate phone number for accounts, and do you have to say something special to get through?

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By Marion Hayes
20th Aug 2016 14:04

My suggestion would be to contact the number for payment problems on 0300 200 3835. It says business but deals with everyone. They are there 8am till 4 pm Sat and Sunday.
8am to 8pm in the week.
They will be able to trace or give you a contact number for tracer I think,

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Replying to Marion Hayes:
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By richard10002
25th Aug 2016 16:12

Marion Hayes wrote:

My suggestion would be to contact the number for payment problems on 0300 200 3835. It says business but deals with everyone. They are there 8am till 4 pm Sat and Sunday.
8am to 8pm in the week.
They will be able to trace or give you a contact number for tracer I think,

Bingo!! Called the number, extremely helpful and, after some data entry, she found the payment and allocated it to the correct Taxpayers Reference.

Thank you ever so much - I dont know how anyone would know that this is the number you can call with this kind of personal missing payment enquiry.

I guess I now wait for formal confirmation that the tax has been paid, and a recalculation of the interest due.

Thanks again.

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Out of my mind
By runningmate
21st Aug 2016 17:23

Do talk to your accountant on Monday to check how much is due in addition to the cheque already paid.
RM

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By richard10002
27th Jan 2018 11:51

For the sake of completeness, having made the call on 25th August 2016, I received a notification confirming the amount received and interest due. I paid the interest and, a while later, received a notification that the interest had been paid and a nil balance was due.

A belated thanks for the help!

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