Advisers KPMG report that HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) have issued 36,000 letters informing employers and agents of possible overpayments of PAYE. The letters, issued at the beginning of August, are causing some confusion as they refer to both the last three Real Time Information (RTI) submissions and the period 6 July – 5 October; time periods which do not correlate.
The letters do not have any contact details on them.
HMRC says "We are aware that a batch of RTI 201 letters has been sent to employers and agents in error, containing incorrect information about over payments. Any employer or agent receiving one of these letters in August should please ignore it. Those wishing to check their tax position can do so on the Business Tax Dashboard (accessed in our online services through the link above). We are very sorry for any inconvenience caused."
KPMG notes that to add to the confusion, HMRC’s Debt Management and Banking (DMB) helpline says they may be correct.
HMRC have also advised that if the employer is confident they have not overpaid PAYE they should ignore the letters.
KPMG suggest that it is possible that some of the letters have been generated by a Class 1A payment that was paid for the year ended 5 April 2014 in July 2014 which has not been correctly allocated. If any employers have received such a letter they should check that any Class 1A payment was correctly allocated.
An announcement on HMRC’s what’s new section of their website suggests employers or agents check their tax position on the Business Tax Dashboard. Please note agents have not been given access to the Dashboard and the Dashboard is not updated in real time.
