Capital Gains Tax Refund

I sold 2 buy to let properties in June and submitted separate online returns for them. The first one resulted in a gain and the full amount due was paid within 3 weeks of the disposal. The second property was sold at a loss, which resulted in a reduction in the overall gain, so I checked the box on the return asking for a refund. On the first return it is showing that the full amount was paid, but this is broken down into 3 separate amounts i.e. the overall sum due, then 2 other amounts totalling the overpaid sum. This comprises of a late payment fee and the balance of the overpayment. Not sure why a late payment fee is included as it was paid well within the 60 day deadline. Yesterday I tried to call the capital gains tax helpline to ask about the refund, but after listening to all the recorded messages I was told that the helpline is temporarily closed until September. The HMRC app was suggested but this is no help and neither is the chat bot. I have therefore had to write to HMRC. As my husband and I are owed a lot of money and the only information I can find is about reporting the loss when we do our self assessments, which won't be until April/May 2024, it is a long time to wait for our money back. If anyone can offer any advice about the possibility/process of claiming the overpayment back before our next self assessment is due it would be appreciated.

Hi
There is a section within the capital gain reporting system that allows you to claim losess.
You can amend this online rather than wait until your return has been submitted.
Thankyou.

I ticked the box for this already. I have managed to speak to a human using webchat and I am waiting for them to call me back. They have advised that they can request the repayment, but they need to take advice from someone in CGT because they have charged a late payment penalty when the full amount was paid 20 days after the sale of the property.

As the phone call didn't materialise I started a new chat and the advisor said that my earlier contact had been noted on the file. I asked if they could also look into this for my husband and was told that he would need to start his own chat for security reasons. When he eventually go an advisor online, it was clear that they were incapable of understanding the issue. My husband had to copy and paste his query and give his security information 3 times only to be told 'you told me that it was a self assessment query'. If this advisor had actually read the query it clearly explained that it was a capital gains tax repayment query. My husband suggested that maybe he should pass the chat over to someone with a knowledge of capital gains tax. At this point he asked for bank details, so my husband thought he was getting somewhere, but no. The advisor disconnected and the process had to be started again. Fortunately after a wait for an advisor, he got someone who actually understood, who said they would message the CGT department with all the details for them to make the repayment. Will only know if this has worked if we get letters or the money appears in the bank account as there is no other way for them to make contact apparantly. Not sure how long it will take, as they have complicated the matter by charging late payment fees when the tax was paid 20 days after the disposal of the property.

I actually got the phone call and was told that we should not have reported the loss using the online CGT reporting system and we have to wait until we do our self assessments after the end of this tax year. At first he said that it needed to be reported on our 2022/23 return, until I pointed out that the disposals were made in the 2023/24 tax year. When I said that this isn't fair when they can fine us for not paying on time, but they can keep our money for nearly a year without penalty I was advised that the repayment will be made with interest at the bank of England base rate. No doubt we will have to go through all the inconvenience of having to contact HMRC again to request the repayment when the time comes, due to their antiquated IT systems not interacting with each other and it will involve sitting in a queue waiting to speak to someone before they close the helpline down again. I am at a loss to understand what HMRC have to gain from not processing the refund now, when it will cost them interest for holding onto it.

Hi
The repayment has to be done manually as the 2 systems are not linked.
If you were not asked for bank details on the chat, please contact us again for this to be escalated.
If the tax was paid withn the 60 days, no penalty should have been charged.
Thankyou.

I did as you say and the result of this is in an earlier post that is still being moderated. To summarise I was told over the phone that we can't have a repayment until we have submitted our self assessment returns after the end of this tax year, so by then you will have had over £4k of our money for nearly a year.