bunyip
24-04-2013, 10:49 AM
Any comments/advice on this situation?
I'm in dispute with HMRC over a payment I made in respect of NI class 2 contributions, but HMRC have not received the money.
I was billed last October for class 2 NI, period April-October 2012. I paid this early in November, in full, with a cheque at the Post Office, as per the instructions which came with the bill. I have now received the latest NI bill from HMRC for the period October 2012 - April 2013, but it shows the previous period (April-October 2012) as unpaid and still owing. I 'phoned to query this, and HMRC say they have no record of my payment and so I still owe them the money. They asked me to send photocopies of my proof of payment but will not guarantee to accept it as proof, since the money has not reached their account.
I have the printout from the Post Office's TransCash/Santander system which shows all the details, including the correct credit account number for HMRC - so I can't see how the money cannot have reached them. The only thing is that the sub-postmaster at the time insisted it would all be done electronically and refused to take the bank giro slip which accompanied the cheque.
As far as I can tell, this is the audit trail. The cheque cleared my account 2 days after being payed to the Post Office Ltd. The Post Office says the funds will have been transferred from their account to the account of TransCash/Santander. It seems to have stopped there, cos HMRC say they haven't received it. presumably it has been sitting in some sort of escrow or holding account at Santander???
I seem to be caught in a rather powerless situation. HMRC won't accept that I've paid until they get the money, but I can't make Transcash/Santander move it cos I have no direct dealings with them. The Post Office won't refund me: they say they've fulfilled their responsibility to forward the payment to Transcash/Santander, and they can't do any more to make Transcash/Santander forward it to HMRC. (This is made worse by the fact that the numpty sub-postmaster who dealt with me in November no longer runs the Post Office, and the current owners have absolutely no incentive to sort this out for me.) :(
I believe HMRC have a complaints/appeals process, but it is an internal unit so are they really going to uphold a complaint from me? :( It's still at an early stage, as I only sent the paperwork in yesterday. But does anyone know how I might expect things to progress and if there is anything I can do? I have a nasty feeling I'm going to be caught in between 3 big stubborn organisations and be forced to pay my NI contributions twice. :)
I'm in dispute with HMRC over a payment I made in respect of NI class 2 contributions, but HMRC have not received the money.
I was billed last October for class 2 NI, period April-October 2012. I paid this early in November, in full, with a cheque at the Post Office, as per the instructions which came with the bill. I have now received the latest NI bill from HMRC for the period October 2012 - April 2013, but it shows the previous period (April-October 2012) as unpaid and still owing. I 'phoned to query this, and HMRC say they have no record of my payment and so I still owe them the money. They asked me to send photocopies of my proof of payment but will not guarantee to accept it as proof, since the money has not reached their account.
I have the printout from the Post Office's TransCash/Santander system which shows all the details, including the correct credit account number for HMRC - so I can't see how the money cannot have reached them. The only thing is that the sub-postmaster at the time insisted it would all be done electronically and refused to take the bank giro slip which accompanied the cheque.
As far as I can tell, this is the audit trail. The cheque cleared my account 2 days after being payed to the Post Office Ltd. The Post Office says the funds will have been transferred from their account to the account of TransCash/Santander. It seems to have stopped there, cos HMRC say they haven't received it. presumably it has been sitting in some sort of escrow or holding account at Santander???
I seem to be caught in a rather powerless situation. HMRC won't accept that I've paid until they get the money, but I can't make Transcash/Santander move it cos I have no direct dealings with them. The Post Office won't refund me: they say they've fulfilled their responsibility to forward the payment to Transcash/Santander, and they can't do any more to make Transcash/Santander forward it to HMRC. (This is made worse by the fact that the numpty sub-postmaster who dealt with me in November no longer runs the Post Office, and the current owners have absolutely no incentive to sort this out for me.) :(
I believe HMRC have a complaints/appeals process, but it is an internal unit so are they really going to uphold a complaint from me? :( It's still at an early stage, as I only sent the paperwork in yesterday. But does anyone know how I might expect things to progress and if there is anything I can do? I have a nasty feeling I'm going to be caught in between 3 big stubborn organisations and be forced to pay my NI contributions twice. :)