P45 tax not on SA

Client forgot to give us P45 but no loss to HMRC

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Hello all,

Long time reader, first time poster. Fairly new to practice but not the profession.

I know this is similar to the query about the small income but it is slightly different as HMRC will have the missing info.

Lovely client denied existence of P45 before we submitted his SA (he does sporadic work) and now he has given it to us (bless). He has paid his tax and there is no additional payment required (ie no loss to HMRC).

Should we let HMRC know or resubmit? I wouldn't bother normally but they will have the P60 and it is not on the return ie return is incomplete. Are HMRC going to notice I wonder, it is £500 tax and his total income is pretty low.

Thanks.

Betty

 

Replies (10)

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By Rammstein1
13th Dec 2019 11:11

I would just submit an amended return.

Thanks (1)
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By NYB
13th Dec 2019 11:31

Amend return. Easily and quickly done. With 300 clients we always have a sprinkling of those that have "forgotten" odd amounts. Better to get it correct.

Thanks (1)
By SteveHa
13th Dec 2019 11:53

As above, amend. Otherwise, your client has filed an inaccurate Return, and as you highlight yourself, HMRC have this information, anyway. A cursory glance by any HMRC officer and wham. S9A time.

Much better avoided with a two minute amendment.

Thanks (1)
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By Not Anonymous
13th Dec 2019 14:30

As the op said this

"He has paid his tax and there is no additional payment required (ie no loss to HMRC)"

would HMRC really bother with an enquiry for no yield? It might make them look closer at the return overall but surely not just to get the PAYE included if there was no tax loss?

Of course the op may not have factored everything in and including the income could increase the overall liability even if at first glance it appears sufficient tax has been paid per the P45

I would still amend the return though.

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Replying to Not Anonymous:
By SteveHa
13th Dec 2019 14:48

Except it's an offense to knowingly file or fail to correct an incorrect Return. Are you advocating advising to commit an offense?

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By Not Anonymous
13th Dec 2019 15:39

Not at all, I said I would amend the return.

But was questioning whether, if there was in fact no tax* loss, HMRC would start an enquiry purely to get the PAYE income on the return?

*tax, student loan,HICBC etc

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Replying to Not Anonymous:
By SteveHa
13th Dec 2019 16:06

OK. If HMRC identify a discrepancy they will (subject to staff these days) open an enquiry. They may decide there is no risk and no tax lost, and close the enquiry immediately without ever writing out, or they may decide to go the whole hog and ask for everything.

It will largely come down to the officer tasked with reviewing it.

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By Not Anonymous
13th Dec 2019 17:27

"They may decide there is no risk and no tax lost, and close the enquiry immediately without ever writing out"

That sounds like the HMRC version of if a tree falls in the woods and no one is there to hear it does it make a sound!

If there's no S9A letter sent to the taxpayer is it an enquiry??

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By BettyBreckland
14th Dec 2019 10:53

Thanks all.
We will amend.
Goodwill to all men!

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RLI
By lionofludesch
14th Dec 2019 11:26

Funnily enough, I had one of these a couple of months ago.

Client forgot about a short term employment which he had, taxed at 20% flat. We sent his return in and HMRC sent out an amendment with this omitted £1200 + £240 tax, amending his tax bill by £0.00.

Obviously not always going to be the case, but I was surprised the computer bothered to send this one out. But computers can't think, can they ?

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