Cheer About Kent Reliance

[OurCreature]

I had a bond which matured earlier this year with Kent Reliance; I received the interest monthly so nearly all of it fell into tax year 2021/22. The problem was that having worked out the tax due for 2021/22 HMRC said I was underpaid by a smallish but not negligible amount; so I phoned them to find out what the problem was as overall it was in the interest I had received for that tax year.

It turned out that HMRC had 2 interest figures for the bond; one was for the interest paid during 2021/22 and the other was for the interest the bond would earn in total. I was half prepared to give up because of the time cost, but after I had spoken to HMRC I thought about it and decided why should I give them £67 when £55 of it isn't due. So I phoned Kent Reliance and spoke to a very pleasant and competent gentleman there who assured me they would do something about it. The next working day I received a statement re the interest the bond had earned in 2021/22. On Thursday when I was having my diabetes review Kent Reliance tried to phone me and gave me a number to call them back. Unfortunately that number has never had less than 40 people in the queue wanting to speak to Customer Services so I have always given up as it isn't a 0800 number but a 0345 number and phoning that number comes off my 700 free minutes a month tariff.

However, whatever KR said to HMRC worked because I checked my online tax account today and HMRC now have decided that I have paid the correct tax for 2021/22; I expect to receive a letter confirming that at some stage before the end of this calendar year. Presumably HMRC decided to let the other £12 go. I sent KR a secure message explaining why I hadn't returned their call and informing them of the outcome of their actions and expressing my thanks to the customer adviser who had dealt with me.

So a cheer for Kent Reliance today, despite their disgraceful phone call queues.

[Furby]

Well done to oc for battling bureaucracy and telephone lines which are two of the evils of our time.

If lots more people are paying interest tax they will need to reform the rules about paying interest and be clear (it is important these days to be clear so you can say we have been clear when asked on news channels etc) be clear about which tax year interest is paid in so people know. In the olden days before they decided a piece of paper was the greatest evil banks used to send a statement in April about tax in previous year. Back then basic people didn't even pay tax but they sent annual summary anyway for everyone.

I can see HMRC being hauled in front of the select committee in two years time when millions of people owe tax from unearned income and it's all a mess. We should be able to claim phone bills and our time being stressed out against tax bills really shouldn't we. Oc should make sure they really are dropping the 12 pounds so they don't come back for it in a few years time. Isn't it only under 10 pounds they write off because they don't work on pounds or pence do they their unit of currency is the ten pounds.

[OurCreature]

Oc should make sure they really are dropping the 12 pounds

I'm as sure as I can be - here's what my front page on my online account has to say about it.