Inland Revenue

[Nemo]

Just checked my online account and got this message:

You owe £0.20.

To avoid penalties, you must pay by 11:59pm on 31 January 2024.

Scary

[Arborbridge]

Just checked my online account and got this message:

You owe £0.20.

To avoid penalties, you must pay by 11:59pm on 31 January 2024.

Scary

A hundred quid fine for owing 20p?!

[Tedx]

Yes it is. 'Cos then it will be £100.20.

[XFool]

"Inland Revenue"?

No such thing!

[Charlottesquare]

Just checked my online account and got this message:



Scary

A hundred quid fine for owing 20p?!

There are no fines for not paying tax, there are fines for non submission of returns.

[Tedx]

Ive just used biometric face and passport scanning to access my government gateway self assessment account

OooOoooh!

[UncleEbenezer]

Just checked my online account and got this message:

You owe £0.20.

To avoid penalties, you must pay by 11:59pm on 31 January 2024.

Scary

Take satisfaction in my story from January (mumble) years ago ...

Once upon a time, when I was a young student, my then-girlfriend and I suffered the worst service I’ve ever encountered, lunching at a Cambridge restaurant. Instead of leaving a normal tip (shudder) or no tip, we left a tip of one halfpenny. We thought this gave entirely the right message. The other couple at the table (which we shared because the place was busy) fully agreed.

This year’s tax bill reminded me of that. Most tax in the UK is PAYE (pay as you earn), which means that your income, both earned and unearned, comes net of tax. In previous years I’ve had nothing to pay, but rather a small adjustment in my favour. This time, they decided I owed them 10p (that’s ten pence, not pounds). I just availed myself of their online payment facility to pay it by debit card.

I don’t know how much the government’s payment processor charges them per debit card transaction. But as a datapoint, my company gets charged a flat rate of 95p each time we accept a debitcard payment online (that’s different from creditcards, where we get charged a percentage). Big businesses get a much better rate than small ones, but I feel sure HMRC must be making a net loss on a payment as low as 10p.

Heh heh.

[Charlottesquare]

Just checked my online account and got this message:



Scary

Take satisfaction in my story from January (mumble) years ago ...

Once upon a time, when I was a young student, my then-girlfriend and I suffered the worst service I’ve ever encountered, lunching at a Cambridge restaurant. Instead of leaving a normal tip (shudder) or no tip, we left a tip of one halfpenny. We thought this gave entirely the right message. The other couple at the table (which we shared because the place was busy) fully agreed.

This year’s tax bill reminded me of that. Most tax in the UK is PAYE (pay as you earn), which means that your income, both earned and unearned, comes net of tax. In previous years I’ve had nothing to pay, but rather a small adjustment in my favour. This time, they decided I owed them 10p (that’s ten pence, not pounds). I just availed myself of their online payment facility to pay it by debit card.

I don’t know how much the government’s payment processor charges them per debit card transaction. But as a datapoint, my company gets charged a flat rate of 95p each time we accept a debitcard payment online (that’s different from creditcards, where we get charged a percentage). Big businesses get a much better rate than small ones, but I feel sure HMRC must be making a net loss on a payment as low as 10p.

Heh heh.

I have a cheque here in the office that I intend some time to frame, it is from an electric company for something like 40p and there is no economic benefit paying it in to our business account. (An HMRC one would be even better)

[Lootman]

I have a cheque here in the office that I intend some time to frame, it is from an electric company for something like 40p and there is no economic benefit paying it in to our business account. (An HMRC one would be even better)

I can beat that. I once got a cheque for 3p from a phone company. I had it on my fridge door for a few years, secured by a "Hell is other people" fridge magnet.

I have not seen it recently and so assume my wife threw it out, thinking that I had made my point.

[Nemo]

Yes it is. 'Cos then it will be £100.20.

The £100 is a penalty for late filing of a Return.

If I'm 30 days late paying the 20p I'll be fined 5% of the amount unpaid, or 1p.

I'll send them a cheque, that should cost them more than 20p to have processed

[staffordian]

I can beat that. I once got a cheque for 3p from a phone company. I had it on my fridge door for a few years, secured by a "Hell is other people" fridge magnet.

I have not seen it recently and so assume my wife threw it out, thinking that I had made my point.

Many years ago, when I worked for Derby City Council, one of our debtors sent us a cheque for 3p less than that!

I didn't frame it, but I did stick it up on the office wall. The only time I didn't bank all our receipts

[Gerry557]

This looks like a common issue. I sent a cheque and the second class postage cost more than the amount owed.

I was told the same that I would be fined if it was late.

I think it cost 26p to cash cheques back then too. I didn't want them messing with my tax code.

[redsturgeon]

I get reminders every year to pay the VED on my car. Amount £0.00
If I do not renew then I am liable to a fine.

[Dod101]

I have a cheque for US$0.01 which I cannot bring myself to throw away. That was the balance of an account that I decided to close.

Dod

[DrFfybes]

Ive just used biometric face and passport scanning to access my government gateway self assessment account

OooOoooh!

Ha - if someone wants to get into my GG to do my SA then they'll need me alive.

Not sure if this is a good thing or not.

Paul

[Tedx]

As Frankie Boyle once said (on biometric ID cards)

'if I lose my card, I'm gonna need a new set of hands and a new pair of eyeballs'.

....but it is quite spooky the way it works.

[Tedx]

Ive just used biometric face and passport scanning to access my government gateway self assessment account

OooOoooh!

Ha - if someone wants to get into my GG to do my SA then they'll need me alive.

Not sure if this is a good thing or not.

Paul

If you use facial recognition to access your iPhone, then use your c*mface as your profile. At least then the thief will have to w*NK you off before he nicks your phone.

(Mr Boyle, again ...)

[DrFfybes]

Ha - if someone wants to get into my GG to do my SA then they'll need me alive.

Not sure if this is a good thing or not.

Paul

If you use facial recognition to access your iPhone, then use your c*mface as your profile. At least then the thief will have to w*NK you off before he nicks your phone.

(Mr Boyle, again ...)

I'll remember that next time MrsF says "isn't it about time you got a smartphone?"

[Rhyd6]

Many years ago when I worked for Inland Revenue underpayments of £50 or less were ignored as it was deemed too costly to pursue collection. It would seem that the advent of Self Assessment and the use of computers have changed all that. Of course in my day, phones were actually answered, staff had to go on training courses, politness to taxpayers was mandatory and believe it or not we realised that we were there to help taxpayers if they were having problems.

R6

[Gerry557]

Many years ago when I worked for Inland Revenue underpayments of £50 or less were ignored as it was deemed too costly to pursue collection. It would seem that the advent of Self Assessment and the use of computers have changed all that. Of course in my day, phones were actually answered, staff had to go on training courses, politness to taxpayers was mandatory and believe it or not we realised that we were there to help taxpayers if they were having problems.

R6

I also thought you had local offices so you could pop in and have a nice helpful chat to resolve or explain things.