AndyB

After being told by HMRC last time I called that my repayment should be processed by 8th July - I checked today and it was still showing as repayment pending. I rang HMRC again and asked for a progress report, only to be told that it should have been released for payment and someone would call me back today. True to their word someone did call me back, to confirm that the repayment has now been released and should be paid within the next ten days. This was for a 23-24 SA return submitted in late April. It still shows as pending on the HMRC site - but apparently this takes a day or so to synchronise - let's see if if the payment appears in the next week or so.

Decided to bite the bullet and call the HMRC SA helpline today (there goes another 40 minutes of my life on hold that I'm never getting back). I enquired as to the status of my repayment and was given the old 'additional security checks' line and a revised date of 8th July (provisional of course). We will see how that plays out, I did make the point that why bother with ID&V checks using passports etc if they were going to be referred for additional checks anyway - not sure it landed. If it does not change status or get paid by 8th July I will be writing to my new MP; I'm not waiting till October to get it paid again.

I'm also past the six-week point and still showing as pending - last year my repayment (for a May SA submission) was not processed until October - which is a complete joke and completely unacceptable by any customer service metric you care to name. This is especially true when you complete all the online ID checks, involving submission of passport ID etc and still HMRC take months; hiding behind the old chestnut of 'additional security checks'. Either use and rely on the ID&V process or save us all the effort and just tell us we all have to wait till Christmas. It's the hope that kills you... I'm resigned to having to wait till the Autumn yet again for what is a significant sum of money (to me at least). I will be writing to my MP this year if I don't get my repayment soon (whoever that turns out to be after July 4th) and I would urge others to do the same - this appalling service would not be tolerated in any other financial institution and cannot be allowed to continue, HMRC need to wake up and focus on their core business of collecting and processing tax!

Can anyone please confirm whether the one-off payment amount entered in box 1.1 is excluding tax relief or should I include tax relief at 20%? I realise that the amount in box 1 should include tax relief at 20%. Thanks Thanks