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Honestly, whilst the advice I'm giving clients is to pay the calculated POAs (and I seem to have a remarkable percentage of this "minority"), I fail to see how good advice is to get clients/taxpayers embroiled in payment ping pong with HMRC because HMRC can't do their job.
EDIT: I should qualify by saying I have some concerns that the political climate, change of PM and likely change of Chancellor and Treasury minister will automatically result in HMRC policy not changing. It could equally be a case of "Sod it, you should have known" from Government.
Surprisingly I had one this month or last month and yet for the last 2 years HMRC do not seem to have bothered to remind me so I have had to rely on the note in my diary.
I find the inconsistency the most annoying part. I seem to be forever trying to second guess what HMRC are going to do each year.
Why not attach a couple of blank pay slips to the notice to file a SATR for those who still use them, and make it clear that self-assessment means self-assessment, and that "sod it, you should have known" is the formal policy?
I agree with Vaughan. HMRC's attitude is that "you are in self assessment you should know when you need to pay your tax". The fact remains that even when you tell your clients what to pay and when, if they receive a demand from HMRC for a lower figure, they will assume HMRC is right and pay that. Come next February we shall be fighting the interest charges as there is no way HMRC will weed out those who have been affected by this error and it will only be cost effective to do this for significant amounts of interest. This has happened two years running. Will they get it right in year three? Some hope.
It is for this exact reason that I have purchased AccountancyManager - it has the facility to issue clients with a POA reminder automatically (amongst other good things)
You can 'sort of' with IRIS, if you hook up data mining to an Automail letter, it will bang out a letter for each client with a POA.
I thought HMRC were officially cutting back on paper reminders in general - on the grounds that taxpayers are now supposed to all have set up their online access to their 'Personal Tax Account' with HMRC. Nevertheless I still agree that HMRC sending out reminders in the post was always helpful both to clients and to HMRC's own effectiveness in collecting tax when due. But since when did HMRC ever set out to be sensible or helpful anyway?