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Is anybody getting any information through API.  I have just had to go through the 18 month reference check-passport, when did I last pay my tax.  I am not getting anything even from Teachers Pensions, Church of England pensions.  It is now 4 November and the need for APIs is more important as I have my usual suspects who can't or won't get their P60s online.  A client gave me their net figure this week.

I hope this post sparks a reaction from HMRC.

Replies (23)

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By rmillaree
04th Nov 2021 11:19

I have checked our API data and there appears to be zero issues at our end.

I have checked 2 clients both pulling through employment and pension data one of which is a teachers pension - so i am presuming your issue is not a general issue with hmrc systems.

Note its par for the course that recently added clients will not have the normal APID data made available.

I am hoping its not the case that IF agent authorisation "default lapses" when it needs the 18 months "colour of underpants" reconnection info - that this could ever have a knock on impact with regard to API data being lost.

If that is an issue that should be a huge concern where it should be made clear to
hmrc anything like that happening is simply not acceptable. If thatis the case for you probably worth flagging up on a specific thread.

Hopefully you have been unlucky with data you have tried or its something specific to your circcumtances - i think you need to be checking with sotwarea nd hmrc online services to see why you are having issues.

Note i am old skool and would say we should not rely on this data in the fisrt place - my software BTC doesnt pull through "negative tax totals - so to me the API data is always a "last resort" info for clients and useful catch up when they dont tell me aboutincome streams despite having been asked.

The simple solution for any such numpty clients is to ring hmrc and get employment pension record sent out to the home address in good time for 31/1/2022. we should never really be reliant on API data (IMHO) until such time as hmrc say it is 100% fine to use as basis for tax return - lets be frank that aint never gonna happen anytime soon.

Personally i try to give clients short shrift if they cant provide p60 data - to me its 100% necessary they provide without undue effort on my part - those are same clients who wont tell you about other income if pressed blah blah blah.

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Replying to rmillaree:
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By Wanderer
04th Nov 2021 11:38

rmillaree wrote:

I have checked 2 clients both pulling through employment and pension data one of which is a teachers pension - so i am presuming your issue is not a general issue with hmrc systems.

I'd say it IS a general issue with HMRC's (extremely poor) systems.
I have H+W clients with EXACTLY the same income profile, same employer, same bank accounts etc. etc.
API often pulls through info for one but not the other.
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Replying to Wanderer:
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By Catherine Newman
04th Nov 2021 12:10

Hi Wanderer. Are you using PTP by any chance?

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Replying to Catherine Newman:
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By Wanderer
04th Nov 2021 12:13

BTC.

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Replying to Wanderer:
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By Catherine Newman
04th Nov 2021 12:21

Noted thanks. So it must be HMRC's systems.

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Replying to rmillaree:
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By Southwestbeancounter
04th Nov 2021 15:30

We use the APIs in a similar way to you rmillaree, as a secondary check.

Only in the last week or so I have had one client who told me that private pension providers don't issue P60s (as they never get one from HMRC for their State Pension!) and another client told me that their employer doesn't issue P60's 'any more'!

To be fair both pension provider and employer were very slack - I have had previous dealings with the employer and I doubt they have issued P60s in a timely manner and I suspect the private pension provider has 'emailed out' a P60 to my client who doesn't use the internet!!

I do find the API information very useful as I have had clients 'cash in' private pensions (and ultimately receive substantial tax refunds) but without that background information I would have had no idea as the client certainly didn't tell me - they just think it's taxed so that's it and forget all about it - they don't realise it also needs to go on their SATR and is often over-taxed resulting in a nice refund!!

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Replying to rmillaree:
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By Carol Jefferis
08th Nov 2021 10:19

I recently had to jump through the 18 month 2 step refresh hoops with BTC software which was somewhat problematic as the person whose details they needed left several months ago - whole other saga.
After doing the refresh all seems to be working well, although of course you don't know what you don't know and there still seem to be a large number of employments where HMRC have not yet completed PAYE reconciliations so the figures are not available.

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Tornado
By Tornado
04th Nov 2021 11:25

"so to me the API data is always a "last resort" info for clients and useful catch up when they dont tell me aboutincome streams despite having been asked."

Interesting point of view (which I agree with) but surely the whole MTD project is based on API's like this providing current and accurate information. There seems to be a long way to go before basic information is working let alone a whole MTD system. I expect your Tax Program API does not even pull through State Pension details yet.

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Replying to Tornado:
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By Wanderer
04th Nov 2021 11:42

Tornado wrote:

I expect your Tax Program API does not even pull through State Pension details yet.

Never has, not once, ever.
Personal contact within HMRC was amazed when I discussed this with her. Couldn't believe that this basic information, available to HMRC, and on their other systems (including the SA system!) wasn't available via the API.
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Replying to Wanderer:
Tornado
By Tornado
04th Nov 2021 11:56

I have been around for some time and I cannot remember an organisation being so deeply in denial about something as HMRC are about the almost certain failure of their MTD project.

It is truly unbelievable.

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Replying to Tornado:
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By Catherine Newman
04th Nov 2021 12:05

It isn't pulling in state pension but then it never has done.

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Replying to Catherine Newman:
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By Hugo Fair
04th Nov 2021 13:08

But they do have the data at their 'digital' fingertips ... as you'll find very quickly if you simply 'accept' their pulled-through figures (including lack of state pension)!

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Replying to Hugo Fair:
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By rmillaree
04th Nov 2021 13:36

I think at some point the penny will drop athmrc and they will simply sort - its like the 5 that used to be on the end ofteh perosnal allowance - i lobbied to get it removing as its created rounding error tax bills - was told can't be done tax tolerances mean its an impossible job - then the pm or chancellor announced pa would be 210 in 2 years time and hey ho all gone - it would have loked a right chump ifthe pa was £10,005

So state pension will pull through at some future stage and they will preumably be proud of themselves at that time when the reality is its a disgrace they took 20 years to make it so.

Once very recent triumph so perhaps there is hope - in agent new gateway areas we can now tell if client direct debit is in place or not for vat !

I would also say that paye payments can also now be viewed now in agent area
so perhaps there is at last some one with some sense doing at least some things behind the scenes !

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Replying to rmillaree:
By Paul D Utherone
04th Nov 2021 13:46

Anecdotally I believe that the coal face IT people at HMRC know that the systems are carp, it's elsewhere in the higher echelons that the head in the sand denial exists

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Replying to Paul D Utherone:
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By Hugo Fair
04th Nov 2021 14:27

If they think that's sand, then that could be the problem!

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Replying to Hugo Fair:
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By rmillaree
04th Nov 2021 14:48

I think the issue is that they have been told if they have a lump of coal and they wait long enough it will turn into a lump of diamond - so perhaps they have defaulted to the waiting game in the hope that ......

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Replying to rmillaree:
By Paul D Utherone
08th Nov 2021 16:15

rmillaree wrote:

I think the issue is that they have been told if they have a lump of coal and they wait long enough it will turn into a lump of diamond - so perhaps they have defaulted to the waiting game in the hope that ......


Trouble is there's no diamonds, just coprolite
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Replying to Tornado:
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By Carol Jefferis
08th Nov 2021 10:25

Does any API pull though State Pension? I use BTC and Taxcalc and they never have.
I use the information on the agent gateway or ASA account for state pension. This is generally pretty reliable although not in the first year of claiming.

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Replying to Carol Jefferis:
Tornado
By Tornado
08th Nov 2021 10:47

I don't think any API pulls through State Pension information at the moment but the point I was making is that by now, this basic information should be readily available through the modern MTD systems that we already have.

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By Paul D Utherone
04th Nov 2021 13:44

Still very hit & miss for me in either Taxfiler or CCH Pertax. Some PAYE details, but far from all

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By Leywood
04th Nov 2021 15:47

Catherine Newman wrote:

I hope this post sparks a reaction from HMRC.

Well that made me smile.

Chance no…re-arrange.

Although maybe the fact that all the HMRC staff read Aweb explains why no-one there answers the phones/letters etc.

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Tornado
By Tornado
04th Nov 2021 16:10

The information that does come through the API's is better than nothing, but it is useless for submitting Tax Returns before September, as the information is not available until then and not much good for private pensions as only a lump sum is shown. This does not help when a client has several pensions.

The biggest gaff so far was showing the SEISS Grants with the decimal point in the wrong places so that the grants received were a hundred times greater than they actually were. This was a pretty basic error to make and if this is an example of the care taken with HMRC software development ................... well, MTD is doomed again.

Too much time will be spent sorting out the millions of problems than could ever be saved by MTD.

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ALISK
By atleastisoundknowledgable...
05th Nov 2021 08:54

We don’t bother with the APIs, I don’t want to rely on something which is not available for the first 6+ months and then probably wrong when it does ‘work’

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