HMRC have advised us today that they are experiencing an unprecedented delay in their handling times. The delay is caused by a high volume of tax refund claims following the end of the tax year in April. Due to the enormous amount of mail received on a daily basis, we regret that HMRC will not allow us to chase individual claims until the paper work has been processed.
PAYE CLAIMS – 12-16 WEEKS.
Whilst we normally expect most tax rebate claims to be completed within 6-12 weeks, the current mail backlog at HMRC is 10 weeks. We therefore expect PAYE tax refund claims to take upto 16 weeks. This could be longer depending on your individual circumstances.
SELF ASSESSMENT CLAIMS – 20-24 WEEKS.
The time taken to open a self assessment record is currently 9 weeks. Once this is done, our accountants need to prepare your self assessment returns after obtaining any missing information. We usually complete this within 2 weeks. It can then take a further 4-5 weeks for HMRC to review and issue payment to us.
[alerts title=”HMRC are working through a million letters!” type=”warning”]An internal leaked memo obtained by The Daily Telegraph reveals HMRC were working through 827,203 letters earlier this month. The number has risen to “over a million”, a source said.
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As always, as soon as we have any news on your claim, we will contact you immediately. We thank you for your continued patience.
