Tax Blunder Leads to Unnerving Experience for UK Citizen, £450 Monthly Loss
HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) recently made headlines when it inadvertently associated another person's employment details with a citizen's national insurance number. The mix-up has led to the individual being taxed on twice their actual earnings and missing out on tax credits.
The issue began in November, when HMRC mistakenly linked the individual's NI number to someone else's records. This mismatch resulted in the individual receiving a tax bill for an amount that is significantly higher than what they actually earned during the same period. In addition, the agency incorrectly added a tax adjustment for the supposed unpaid tax of last year.
The situation has caused the individual significant financial hardship, with their monthly tax and NI contributions now standing at £450. What's even more concerning is the lack of urgency displayed by HMRC officials, with the citizen having to wait 90 minutes to speak with an adviser before being informed that the issue had not yet been resolved.
It appears that this case shares some similarities with a previous incident involving a reader who was incorrectly declared dead by HMRC after the agency mistakenly associated their NI number with that of a deceased person. This incident highlights the need for greater vigilance in data protection to prevent such blunders from occurring in the future.
In response to our queries, HMRC revealed that they have now disentangled the two individuals and will refund the overpaid tax in the next payslip. Additionally, the agency is paying £75 in compensation for their mistake.
When asked whether they had declared a data breach to the Information Commissioner's Office given the similarity between the individual's employment details and those of another person, HMRC replied that this was not necessary as the shared personal information did not include the woman's name, address, or date of birth.
HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) recently made headlines when it inadvertently associated another person's employment details with a citizen's national insurance number. The mix-up has led to the individual being taxed on twice their actual earnings and missing out on tax credits.
The issue began in November, when HMRC mistakenly linked the individual's NI number to someone else's records. This mismatch resulted in the individual receiving a tax bill for an amount that is significantly higher than what they actually earned during the same period. In addition, the agency incorrectly added a tax adjustment for the supposed unpaid tax of last year.
The situation has caused the individual significant financial hardship, with their monthly tax and NI contributions now standing at £450. What's even more concerning is the lack of urgency displayed by HMRC officials, with the citizen having to wait 90 minutes to speak with an adviser before being informed that the issue had not yet been resolved.
It appears that this case shares some similarities with a previous incident involving a reader who was incorrectly declared dead by HMRC after the agency mistakenly associated their NI number with that of a deceased person. This incident highlights the need for greater vigilance in data protection to prevent such blunders from occurring in the future.
In response to our queries, HMRC revealed that they have now disentangled the two individuals and will refund the overpaid tax in the next payslip. Additionally, the agency is paying £75 in compensation for their mistake.
When asked whether they had declared a data breach to the Information Commissioner's Office given the similarity between the individual's employment details and those of another person, HMRC replied that this was not necessary as the shared personal information did not include the woman's name, address, or date of birth.
. £450 is a lot to lose, and it's even more frustrating that they had to wait 90 minutes just to get someone to listen about their issue 
. I mean, data protection should be everyone's top priority, especially when it comes to sensitive info like tax details 
.
. And £75 in compensation for their mistake? Not bad at all 
. Still, I wonder how this kind of thing can happen when you have a whole team of people supposed to be handling these kinds of things 
. Maybe it's time for HMRC to take a closer look at their processes and make sure something like this doesn't happen again 
.
he got tax'd twice & missed out on credits cuz of a massive mistake by HMRC ! 
its like they just threw dusterz on his finances 
and he's still tryin to figger it out 
anyway, its good 2 hear dat he's gettin a refund & compensation tho 
! I'm literally shaking my head over here thinking about how they messed up so badly. £450 monthly loss is just insane for someone who didn't even do anything wrong. And 90 minutes to get an adviser? That's ridiculous! You'd think they'd have some better systems in place to prevent this kind of thing from happening.
I'm seriously worried about these kinds of data breaches & administrative mistakes happening in our lives... £450 monthly loss is already a huge burden for anyone. The fact that it took 90 minutes to resolve this issue just adds to the frustration. And £75 compensation isn't even enough considering the stress and inconvenience they went through. 
. I mean, I know mistakes happen, but it's one thing to have a mistake and another to have such a huge financial impact.
if someone gets their name, address, and birthday mixed up with some other person, that's gotta be a major breach, right? 
I'm not saying the woman didn't do anything wrong, but it seems like HMRC should've been more careful. £75 in compensation is nice, but what about her sanity 
?
. I mean, what's next? Declaring a 'non-issue' to the ICO when it's clearly not one? 
. Data protection needs to be super tight, it's just not worth any of us taking this kind of hit