Non paid TAX and naturalisation

[shace318]

Hi All

I work for an Irish company am employed full time in the UK,
long story cut short. back in 2012 I was paid in euros and now I am getting paid in GBP, at the time when my company moved my pay from euro to GBP I owed £709 to HMRC in 2012.

I got to know this only because when I applied for ILR last April I asked for a tax history and end the letter HMRC said I owe them 709 also they said they will take 59 a month for 12 months in 2013/14 tax year, but never did so.

I applied for my ILR in April 2014 while I owe this money to HMRC. now my question is will this affect my naturalisation? I have contacted the HMRC but even this year they have not adjusted my TAX code means I would not pay this 709 this year(2015/16) too.

I have tried to pay but HMRC is not bothered, may be its too little money for them(I don't know)

please advise should I still go ahead and apply for naturalisation next month? or should I sort this out first.

Rgds,

Shace

[Manka10]

You have to sort out all the arrears with HMRC first, HMRC may not be bothered with the amount but its up to you to clear it or it will be a straight refusal from HO if they find out, especially since its been outstanding for so long

[milan69]

Manka is right and you need to sort your account with HMRC as it can affect your "good character".
Have you gone to court over this or been convicted?

[Mauser1905]

Shace318,

HMRC is never lax whatever lower the amount is. Usually they will send letters straight away demanding the dues with interest and penalties.

In your case there must have been communication gone to your PAYE agent/past address etc.

As advised by others, if I were you I would settle the HMRC dues at the very first instance and get in writing from HMRC that there are no dues outstanding.

Good luck.

[shace318]

Hi All,

Thank you for the reply's

No i haven't been to court regarding this, I have spoken to HMRC and they said they will change the tax code for 2015/16 which will automatically take £59 a month, they have been saying this for last 2 years now, and nothing happened.

when i went through different forums i have seen people getting refused naturalisation for non paying tax but all of them were self employed/ limited company, in my case i am employed full time and this £709 is due purely due to the moving my income from euro to GBP.(can be a mistake from HMRC or my employer)

have anyone got refused for non paying tax being full time employment, the reason i ask is that if i am willing to pay and if HMRC is not changing the tax code and how am I be responsible for this? also I got my ILR last year while having the same issue.

I am not trying to avoid paying this tax I am only trying to prove that i dont fall into bad character due to there mistake.

I got a letter from HMRC on annual earings(2014) and it says your income for 2014 is xx,xxx and you owe us £709 and this is only for your information and is not letter/demand to pay what I owe them. now I got this letter last month which means the HMRC knows that owe money to them, and I still cant understand why they are not bothered to give me an option to pay this.


if anyone have been in similar position please share your experience...

Thank you guys for your advice

Shace

[Mauser1905]

ask HMRC to provide you with a letter stating the tax adjustment arrangement as you discussed. Then copy of this letter you can submit with your paperwork to be on safer side. I think this should be more than enough as you are in employment and not self employed. its standard practice for hMRC to adjust your tax code for such dues.

regards

[rakeysh.patel]

Hi All,

Thank you for the reply's

No i haven't been to court regarding this, I have spoken to HMRC and they said they will change the tax code for 2015/16 which will automatically take £59 a month, they have been saying this for last 2 years now, and nothing happened.

when i went through different forums i have seen people getting refused naturalisation for non paying tax but all of them were self employed/ limited company, in my case i am employed full time and this £709 is due purely due to the moving my income from euro to GBP.(can be a mistake from HMRC or my employer)

have anyone got refused for non paying tax being full time employment, the reason i ask is that if i am willing to pay and if HMRC is not changing the tax code and how am I be responsible for this? also I got my ILR last year while having the same issue.

I am not trying to avoid paying this tax I am only trying to prove that i dont fall into bad character due to there mistake.

I got a letter from HMRC on annual earings(2014) and it says your income for 2014 is xx,xxx and you owe us £709 and this is only for your information and is not letter/demand to pay what I owe them. now I got this letter last month which means the HMRC knows that owe money to them, and I still cant understand why they are not bothered to give me an option to pay this.


if anyone have been in similar position please share your experience...

Thank you guys for your advice

Shace

Well this is coming as a surprise that I/one could be penalised for HMRC's inadequacies!! I have a similar situation as yours - I got a HMRC letter stating that due to my job change (and substantial salary increment I got in my new job), I had underpaid the tax. I called up day I got the letter and spoke to HMRC and asked them to start taking the money off right away from my PAYE and I was told that wasnt possible. They will adjust my TAX code next year and start taking monies out. I requested to pay over the phone, and I got NO there as well!!! A day later, I got an NI Rebate for c£100. No idea what is going on here.,..

How is it that I am a person with bad character when Govt body dont fulfill their responsibilities - I do things by the letter of the law, do my community service etc. A branded joke!!!

[Mauser1905]

How is it that I am a person with bad character when Govt body dont fulfill their responsibilities - I do things by the letter of the law, do my community service etc. A branded joke!!!

PAYE employment shouldn't be of any issue at all. I see you taking a wrong view of the whole thing. Self employed people are having self assessments and tax returns based on those etc and any issues in paying those duty debts may be of concern to ECO.

However PAYE is managed by employers and unless in employers manage exceptionally badly you have nothing to worry about. Relax.

Regards

[shace318]

Hi Mauser1995

This is the question I am asking from the beginning...if my employer and HMRC have messed the tax code and not willing to change or not taking the money..what are the options we have to prove of good character?

I have spoken to HMRC and they said the tax code will be changed this year and will send a confirmation letter.

Now my next question is should I have to include this letter in my naturalisation application? am I inviting trouble?

I am planning to apply on 10/4/15, still got around 7 weeks to decide, if we can get at least someone in the forum who have got naturalisation with issues with Tax while being employed this will give us some confident.

shace

[rakeysh.patel]

Hi Mauser1995

This is the question I am asking from the beginning...if my employer and HMRC have messed the tax code and not willing to change or not taking the money..what are the options we have to prove of good character?

I have spoken to HMRC and they said the tax code will be changed this year and will send a confirmation letter.

Now my next question is should I have to include this letter in my naturalisation application? am I inviting trouble?

I am planning to apply on 10/4/15, still got around 7 weeks to decide, if we can get at least someone in the forum who have got naturalisation with issues with Tax while being employed this will give us some confident.

shace

Two things you can do here - you can include a cover letter. That is also the advice I got from HO customer service rep.

But if I were you, I'd pay off the dues (of course if you have that money spare). I'm going to send the payment today via postal order or bankers cheque and will include cover note and photocopies of my payment and letters from HMRC that clearly states, I don't need to take action as my tax code will be automatically adjusted (by having that much less tax free allowance next FY).

All thI best. I'm due at NCS on 3rd March will keep you posted.

[Mauser1905]

Hi Mauser1995

This is the question I am asking from the beginning...if my employer and HMRC have messed the tax code and not willing to change or not taking the money..what are the options we have to prove of good character?

I have spoken to HMRC and they said the tax code will be changed this year and will send a confirmation letter.

Now my next question is should I have to include this letter in my naturalisation application? am I inviting trouble?

I am planning to apply on 10/4/15, still got around 7 weeks to decide, if we can get at least someone in the forum who have got naturalisation with issues with Tax while being employed this will give us some confident.

shace

Shace,
You are NOT in bad books of HMRC, the dues you owe to HMRC are not significant at all and this is a standard practice for HMRC to adjust the tax code. I can understand your anxiety.

For your peace of mind you can opt for cover letter as mentioned by R Patel and copy of letter from hmrc.

Once again you ARE paying tax dues as per HMRC terms, as long as you have the arrangement in black and white you need not worry.
regards