When my mother died, there was\u00a0a four-year delay in achieving probate owing to financial complexities. During this time my father paid inheritance tax (IHT) on the advice of his solicitor, to prevent interest accruing.<\/p>\n
It turned out that the solicitor\u2019s estimate of the amount was wildly out.<\/p>\n
My father applied for a rebate a year ago and, eight months later, HMRC<\/a> confirmed that he was owed \u00a3153,500. Two more months have passed without a word. My father is 86 and I do wonder if HMRC is hoping he will die before it has to pay.<\/p>\n He used all his savings, and had to sell a field to pay the tax he thought he owed, and it\u2019s left him very short of money.<\/p>\n CJ, Bristol<\/p>\n If we are 30 days late paying our tax dues, HMRC levies a 5% fine plus interest on the sum owed. When it owes us, however, it allows itself as long as it chooses, and that can be up to a year<\/a>.<\/p>\n Here\u2019s the wonder \u2013 three days after I raised your father\u2019s case with HMRC he was called by a flesh-and-blood human and the money was paid into his account that afternoon, along with accrued\u00a0interest.<\/p>\n Note that the interest HMRC charges procrastinating taxpayers \u2013 as well as the fine \u2013 is the Bank of England base rate (now 3.75%) plus 4%. The interest it pays us if it is late is 1% below the base rate.<\/p>\n HMRC blamed a \u201chandling error\u201d for the delay.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve never heard my father so jubilant,\u201d you say. It didn\u2019t happen here but HMRC insists cases are resolved with 15 working days.<\/p>\n CK, who lives in Spain and works for a UK company, faced a 13-month wait for HMRC to refund an overpayment caused, in her case, by its own error.<\/p>\n She had wanted to take advantage of last year\u2019s extended deadline to backpay national insurance (NI) and increase her state pension entitlement. When\u00a0she tried to pay she discovered HMRC had her registered for the vastly more expensive class 3 NI contributions instead of class 2.<\/p>\n \u201cClass 3 would cost me an unaffordable \u00a3180,000 compared to \u00a33,000 for class 2,\u201d she writes.<\/p>\n She alerted HMRC to the mix-up and received, after a five-month wait, a calculation still based on class 3 and an order to pay within a week, or forfeit the opportunity.<\/p>\n \u201cPanicked about the deadline, I emptied my savings to pay the maximum amount I could \u2013 more than \u00a38,000,\u201d she writes.<\/p>\n HMRC later admitted it had made a mistake, that she was eligible for the lesser class 2 contributions and that she was due a refund of \u00a35,094.<\/p>\n That was in October 2025, and it was the last she heard. When she called for an update in March, she was told she could expect her refund this November.<\/p>\n \u201cMy employer is cutting the workforce by a quarter this year and I\u2019ve used all my savings on this overpayment,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n HMRC claims the refund was processed before I questioned her\u00a0botched case, and congratulated itself on being so well ahead of its estimated November deadline.<\/p>\n In fact, it approved the payment\u00a0on the day I got in touch and the cheque reached you three weeks later.<\/p>\n HMRC admits that the government has told it to get its act\u00a0together; it has recruited hundreds of extra staff to improve response times.<\/p>\n NS, who lives in Poland, has the opposite problem. He has been trying for a year to pay up to \u00a310,000 in voluntary NI contributions. The forms he submitted met with silence.<\/p>\n \u201cI was told they were a very small team who were still dealing with cases from 14 months previously and I might have to wait\u00a0up to a year for a calculation,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n \u201cIt seems crazy to have people willing to pay millions overall into the UK \u2018pot\u2019 but not have the resources, or staff, to facilitate receiving this money.\u201d<\/p>\n The \u201cvast majority\u201d of contributions are processed in five working days, HMRC tells me\u00a0unhelpfully.<\/p>\n It blames a surge in applications before last year\u2019s deadline for the\u00a0delays, and has now issued him\u00a0with a calculation and a redress payment.<\/p>\n Finally, a happy ending …<\/p>\n JI, 83, who we featured in January,\u00a0has, this week, received \u00a363,872\u00a0of overpaid tax she applied for in April last year. That\u2019s five months after I raised her case with\u00a0HMRC.<\/p>\n We welcome letters but cannot answer individually. Email us at consumer.champions@theguardian.com<\/a> or write to Consumer Champions, Money, the Guardian, 90 York Way, London N1 9GU. Please include a daytime phone number. Submission and publication of all letters is subject to our terms and conditions<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"When my mother died, there was\u00a0a four-year delay in achieving probate owing to financial complexities. 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