Received two letters from HMRC today. One telling me that my tax return for 2015 was not sent in on time and i had a 100quid penalty and another with a statement saying they had to receive the fine by the 25 March or I will be charged 10 quid a day for late payment.

The thing is we left in 2013. I did returns covering 2013 and 2014 and sent a p85 (I think thats what it is called) saying I had left the country.
I have nothing to declare in the UK, we don't own any property and i have a bank account with about a fiver in it.

Was there something else I should have done?

[QUOTE=Tootlepootle;11917670]Received two letters from HMRC today. One telling me that my tax return for 2015 was not sent in on time and i had a 100quid penalty and another with a statement saying they had to receive the fine by the 25 March or I will be charged 10 quid a day for late payment.

The thing is we left in 2013. I did returns covering 2013 and 2014 and sent a p85 (I think thats what it is called) saying I had left the country.
I have nothing to declare in the UK, we don't own any property and i have a bank account with about a fiver in it.

Was there something else I should have done?[/QUOTE]



Sounds like you should have done a tax return! I think you have to do one until they tell you you can stop. I remember after about 3 years, we requested and received a letter from HMRC stating that we no longer had to submit a UK tax return.

I don't recall ever doing a tax return in the UK. I suppose I must have

When we lived there not everybody had to do a tax return. We did because of income levels I think. Not sure why otherwise; I also ran a business so perhaps considered a bit more complex?

i thought the p85 and lack of any income that I declared was enough. They gave me 500 quid back in overpayments so obviously the system received the p85!

I will ring on Monday and find out the painful truth!

Don't worry. I know people love to bash HMRC, but I've found if you're polite, factual and non-confrontational, the person on the other end of the 'phone is generally pretty pragmatic.

i've just dug out the letter I received in November and they way I read it was that I had done what was necessary, just 6 months late. I thought that process overrode the return. Hopefully I get a sympathetic ear!!

I remember doing a P85 and getting a tax refund for the part year I worked in the UK before leaving and I have a vague recollection of doing one return about the same time.

My monthly pension and quarterly annuity are way less than the personal allowance and HMRC provides a tax code to each payer enabling them to pay without any deduction.

I get a P60 every year but have never been asked to do a return since.

I only ever did 3 or 4 in my life for the UK. One when I started work, one when I had a mate lodging (and one when he left I suppose) and then for when I moved to Canada.

You still get a P60 every year? Oh wait, because of pension. Sorry, didn't think

I think you can call on Saturdays. I recalled this when I read your post so googled:

https://www.gov.uk/government/organi...-and-employees

S

Thank you!

Got up early to ring them, discover that particular dept/ office doesn't open on a Saturday

Sorry to give you duff info! Let us know it goes on Monday.

S

I've been out of UK for 3 years now. Did P85 and got letter saying no more tax returns, but have recently used the DTT to get my private pensions paid gross. As my State/SERPS are over the tax free limit I have to do a self assessment next year since I will owe some tax and HMRC cannot take it out of my State pension. I can then elect to have the tax collected via one of my private pensions , as previously , and so will expect another letter to say no more tax returns! The point is you have to continue doing returns UNTIL HMRC tell you otherwise. TBF, once you'd submitted the P85 , HMRC should have told you that they needed a return for the 2014/2015 tax year.That's what happened to me.Think yourself lucky as US citizens have to do a return every year , no matter where in the world they live.

What about offshore accounts to avoid taxes? I recommend contacting Mossack Fonseca & Co in Panama. They'll sort you.