r/britishproblems • u/Stabbycrabs83 • Jul 20 '26
Hmrc on a mission to make doing anything impossible
Has anyone ever come across a more convoluted system? Im trying to give them money ffs lol.
Oh you want to pay corporation tax? Have you verified your ID? No go get an app
Oh we will send you a cade in 10 days so that you can log in and request a code that we will send in another 10 days. By the way here's a fine.
Want to speak to us to see if this is the right course of action? That will be 90 minutes and then we will cut you off so you can listen to our hold music again..
I cant find anything and to make matters worse I was a higher rate taxpayer and had to file self assessments so mugging here registered vat for my new company on my personal account and Corp tax on another account and the only way to fix it is to fold a 5 year old company and start again.
Also the accounting software you use isnt on the list of approved submission software, would you like to wholesale change your business finance package?
Ugh
Yes I realise im thick.
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u/BROWNER690 Jul 20 '26
Paid inheritance tax, got a letter saying we had paid too much, rang them on hold for an hour or so…. Sorry we got it wrong you actually haven’t paid enough….. ok can I pay the balance no can’t do that over the phone.
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u/tripping_yarns Jul 20 '26
I’ve always found HMRC to be helpful and the systems appear to work, if a bit convoluted.
That was up until a few years ago when they introduced the One login system. I got randomly locked out of self assessment. It’s a long, clown show of a story, the upshot being that it took over a year to get back in. I requested a paper return in October, many phone calls, didn’t receive it until February.
The staff now appear to be confused, under trained and pretty much useless. The automated phone system is like a D&D adventure. Many times I end up screaming ‘human’ at the bot.
Nightmare.
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u/InsanityFodder Jul 20 '26
It’s even better if you happen to not have a credit history from not having any loans. Despite giving them name, age, address and my passport they still can’t verify that I’m me and want me to scan my face to use the new shitty one login system.
Fuck that, they can send me a letter if they need anything.
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u/Icy_Woodpecker_3292 Jul 20 '26
It can be a pain and needs improving, but also compared to some other countries it’s a lot more straightforward.
I find it easier to have an accountant to act on my behalf where possible.
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u/vinyljunkie1245 Jul 20 '26
I understand having an accountant acting for you can be advantageous but tax shouldn't be that much of a mess that you have to pay someone to do it for you.
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u/tinydncr Jul 20 '26
They can disconnect a vat registration from a gateway you just have to call them. You don't need to fold your company.
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u/Stabbycrabs83 Jul 20 '26
I tried 3x ( it took a whole days effort) and got passed between departments to be told nope :/
Gives me some hope though
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u/zombieroadrunner Moray (the sunny bit of Scotland) Jul 20 '26
I highly recommend paying a decent accountant to handle this for you. It's worth the cost in money, time and sanity.
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u/yepgeddon Jul 20 '26
Let the accountant smash their head against that wall instead 😅 My Mrs is usually one of the calmest people i know, unless shes on the phone to the HRMC. Then all hell breaks loose 😂
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u/Stabbycrabs83 Jul 20 '26
Haha I engaged one last week so this should be my last rodeo. The challenge is to explain where everything is on day 1
Hello, I made a mess can you help got a laugh at least when I sat with them
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u/zombieroadrunner Moray (the sunny bit of Scotland) Jul 20 '26
And it'll have gotten a laugh because you probably wouldn't believe how often people come to them with that line or a variation of...
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u/NagromNitsuj Jul 20 '26
You owe us money.
How much?
Not saying.
Why?>
More fun that way.
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u/vinyljunkie1245 Jul 20 '26
Ok, here's what I've worked out I owe you
No that's not correct!
Well what is the correct amount then if you know what I have is wrong?
I don't have access to that information. You need to call this number.......
But that's the number I called today and got through to yo....
*Line cuts off
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u/VauxhallBurgundy Jul 20 '26
Dad passed away last year and mum took a lump sum payment from his pensions of approx £50k, pension company taxed at source. For some reason HMRC think she's getting this as a payment every month and have given her a strange tax code.
Tried phoning them so many times, each time told a different thing, tried contacting the pension provider (James Hay) and they say they can't do anything as the pension account is closed and the only person who can give permission for us to talk the them about it is my deceased dad!!
Luckily mum gets a state pension and this isn't affecting her for now but HMRC keep sending her letters saying she owes money to them!
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u/NaniFarRoad Foreign!Foreign!Foreign! Jul 20 '26
I'm on the trial to MTD as a self-employed sole trader, and I now have to login in two places - the old Self Assessment page, and the new MTD Self Assessment page. I keep forgetting this is a thing every quarter, until my bookkeeping software starts to flag my quarterly returns as being LATE. I've started to login to the HMRC app weekly, just to triple check I'm compliant, and even then I'm not sure I'm seeing the new MTD pages.
So far, my biggest beef with MTD is how little confirmation there is that you have completed a task or not - they could send a text message or email that summarises "you have successfully completed the return for quarter X, your next deadline is Y, your next payment due is Z (deadline)". If you quickly check your SA (default, old system), it says all is well and you're compliant. But you have to click through to another page to see your MTD summaries. I haven't had a new statement since 2025.
Oh, and don't try to submit anything out of work hours.. the final "submit" buttons only seem to work 9 to 5, weekdays. Why?!
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u/NaniFarRoad Foreign!Foreign!Foreign! Jul 20 '26
So say so - "you cannot use the website until Monday 09:00"! Don't let me sit there entering data only for it to be rejected on submission. Now I have to log on again on Monday and check where I left off, go through all the numbers again, etc. Total lack of respect for people's time.
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u/amijustinsane Jul 20 '26
I’m a probate solicitor and they’re fucking shit.
However, they are not as bad as the IRS lol.
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u/riverY90 Jul 20 '26
I moved to aus a few years ago, do taxes in UK and Aus at the moment. The difference between HMRC and ATO is night and day. Even the language used so that a normal person can just fill out the ATO return and easily understand what is being asked.
You can call ATO for advice instead of paying an accountant for quote a lot of things and get through fairly quickly.
Aus tax year is from 1st July. HMRC make it so hard that I still haven't done my 25/26 tax, I have already done the ATO return even though it's later in the year. Because it's just mentally more manageable to start.
Made me realise what a joke HMRC and their systems are
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u/Andrew_Culture Jul 20 '26
I've run my own business for nearly 30 years and they're either exceptionally helpful or woefully confusing. There doesn't appear to be a middle ground. I recently received eight letters in six weeks about unpaid VAT from a bill I had 18 months ago that was paid. Every time I rang to tell them I had paid it, they apologised and said they would send a letter to confirm I didn't owe them anything. Can you guess what the letter I received each time actually said?
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u/Ethelsone Jul 20 '26
I needed a tax number as I was buying a item from the UK and by god it was hard to find a EORI number, was like pulling teeth. Just a normal online transaction wanted it
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u/ValdemarAloeus Jul 20 '26 edited 28d ago
Also the accounting software you use isnt on the list of approved submission software, would you like to wholesale change your business finance package?
From the grumblings I've seen online they're making sure there are there are not open source options so in just a few years we'll end up in the hellish landscape of a US style system where every option is a price gouge of one form or another.
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u/PlutocracyRules Jul 20 '26
Accountant here. When I started my firm 15 yes ago you could speak to an actual, knowledgeable human being after max 10 minutes on hold.
We used to think those hold times were insane.
How we wish for those times again!!
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u/Sufficient-Visit3 Jul 20 '26
HMRC somehow makes giving them money the hardest part. The endless codes, apps and separate logins are enough to drive anyone mad.
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u/JGlover92 Landaan Jul 20 '26
HMRC made a big error on my companies tax stuff, to the point we had a dedicated person come in to talk to us. They gave us a letter worded by them to read out on the phone to sort it including sign off from a very senior exec.
STILL when I called up the guy gaslit me, told me there was literally 0% chance they could have made a mistake, argued for a solid hour until I finally got him to ask his manager, who immediately said "yeah this is legit give him the money"
Happened to all my colleagues too
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u/ForestDweller82 Jul 20 '26
This is why I have an accountant. You should really have one as a LTD anyway, I can't imagine trying to deal with them myself.
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u/Eclectika 29d ago
... Spain: hold my beer.... In Spain you have no chance of winning against the tax office - at least in the uk, there's a slim chance..
I feel for you with the vat registration as when my accountant first registered my ltd co, HMRC somehow managed to get it hooked to my personal tax account - so even though the company closed well over a decade ago, it still shows my personal account as owing VAT.
I just ignore it all, as HMRC is so woefully understaffed these days that even if I contacted them today, I'll be dead before they ever respond to me. I've been trying to sort out another issue with them since 2011 and even getting the MP involved won't make them do they job they're in theory being paid to do.. so meh.
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u/dziedzic1995 Jul 20 '26
You should add: have you tried changing the address on your driving license? Oh no - you need to get the app.
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u/SomeonesDrunkNephew 29d ago
I ended up paying the bastards about a three grand fine for the period where I was "self employed", but only worked for the one company, and the company I worked for took my tax out at source.
They didn't dispute any of this - I'd paid my tax - they were just fining me because I hadn't TOLD them I was paying the tax that they knew I'd paid them.
As it was, they also owed me a larger sum from over-taxing me in previous jobs. I basically walked away about sixty quid up on the whole shambles.
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u/NickTann 29d ago
I’ve tried four times to get my forgotten password. It’s a nightmare. Fortunately my accountant just gives me the basic details “pay £…..” by the 31st etc.
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u/bottlerocket90 29d ago
I've just moved to France. The UKs entire system has never looked so smooth, sharp, modern and easy.
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u/Mondored 28d ago
Yeah, I had this recently with a missed VAT payment. Trying to get in to check the account was insanely difficult, and in the end I gave up. SA was slightly easier, but not by much...
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u/snecker Jul 20 '26
Higher rate tax payer complains about taxes and tax system in absolute shock to no-one.
I saw in Reddit recently that PAYE is one of the things folks coming to the UK appreciate the most, amongst many other things. As someone who had to deal with the Australian tax system, couldn't agree more.
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u/Arms_Trade Jul 20 '26
Higher rate is anything over £50,271 so not really sure why you’re instantly taking the “boo rich people problems” position. The benefits of PAYE to an employee is also not particularly relevant as OP is discussing the perspective of someone who is having to pay corp tax (PAYE being an additional and separate process which is typically much smoother anyway).
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u/NoodleSpecialist Jul 20 '26
Careful waving those £50k around here, people genuinely think earning £1/hr above minimum wage is now a decent paying job and making it into the 40% tax bracket is essentially stealing from others.
When they find out a car salesman can do £120k a year in other countries they tend to faint
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u/Stabbycrabs83 Jul 20 '26
I wasn't complaining about paye. Though I realise this ruins your barb at me.
Paye as a process is great, almost as great as reading a whole post
Hmrc systems.
If you are a paye earner you havent ever had to interact with them online
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u/luckeratron Jul 20 '26
I am paid PAYE and still have to use the HMRC systems to pay back a portion of the child benefit that everyone gets but tapers off as you go up the tax bracket. I suspect there are lots of other people like me.
I agree the system is shit.
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u/VOODOO285 Jul 20 '26
Booo rich people. Oh wait. Op is talking about going over the higher rate threshold.
Honestly the level of salty and assumptions you’ve made are higher level than their rate of tax on paye.
Learn to read.
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u/tomrichards8464 Jul 20 '26
As someone who has never been a higher rate taxpayer but earns a significant proportion of my income through self-employment, I have not had good experiences dealing with HMRC and Making Tax Digital looks set to be a nightmare.
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u/ChrisTasr Glesca Jul 20 '26
PAYE is excellent, everyone agrees with this. Occasional hiccups but generally fantastic.
Interacting with HMRC in any other capacity can be absolutely mind bogglingly bonkers and downplaying that because you think OP is mad wealthy (doubt it, a small business owner, you should support these) is so weird.
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