Email
November 28
Dear Editor,
I wish Rob Bacon good luck with his double taxation processing.
When it is approved, it may not be the end of his double taxation journey!
Over the years I have received UK tax demands on many occasions.
Whichever means of communication you choose to resolve the issue it will involve time, cost and energy.
With luck they will apologise and agree that you have a double taxation agreement in place.
Then tell you to ignore the demand. (Ask for it in writing!)
At other times you may need your savings to tide you over the negotiation period.
My first confrontation began in the week before Christmas 2009.
My state pension didn’t appear in the bank.
HMRC claimed that my profile details needed correcting.
It wasn’t resolved until a few weeks had passed in the New Year.
Had I been totally reliant on my state pension it would have been a difficult period.
A second financial problem arrived a few years later when they passed a ‘K’ code to my annuity provider.
That arose because I had not paid UK tax on the monthly payments.
A ‘K’ code authorises your provider to pay half of your monthly income to HMRC.
It took six months to resolve that issue and get a refund.
I have had UK tax demands from around £3000 to the latest demand for £749.
(Interestingly the demand claims that I have a foriegn pension of £1.)
I have multiple double taxation documents and HMRC letters of apology.
My technique these days is to bundle copies of the documents, post them and wait for a reply.
(It seems to be the optimum solution for stress-free solutions if you don’t mind the wait!)
Cliff Bell
Pinoso
