Tax Blunder Costs Woman £450 a Month as HMRC Struggles with Identity Mix-Up
In a shocking case, a woman in Lancashire has found herself on the receiving end of a catastrophic tax blunder. Her National Insurance (NI) number was inadvertently matched to someone else's, resulting in HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) treating her as if she had two jobs - one that earns twice as much and another for which she didn't pay any tax last year.
The error led to the woman being taxed £450 a month extra on top of her usual take-home pay. When she contacted HMRC, she was told it hadn't yet processed the issue, requiring a 90-minute wait to reach an adviser.
What's perhaps even more alarming is that the mix-up occurred during a tax code review after she changed jobs last year. The system matched her employment data with another woman who shared some of her personal details, but fortunately, their NI numbers remained unaffected.
HMRC has since disentangled the two women and will refund the overpaid tax in her next payslip. It's also offering £75 in compensation for the distress caused by the blunder.
When questioned about the incident, HMRC stated that while they didn't consider it a data breach because the other woman's name, address, and date of birth weren't shared, this explanation has done little to alleviate the concern raised by the woman involved.
In a shocking case, a woman in Lancashire has found herself on the receiving end of a catastrophic tax blunder. Her National Insurance (NI) number was inadvertently matched to someone else's, resulting in HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) treating her as if she had two jobs - one that earns twice as much and another for which she didn't pay any tax last year.
The error led to the woman being taxed £450 a month extra on top of her usual take-home pay. When she contacted HMRC, she was told it hadn't yet processed the issue, requiring a 90-minute wait to reach an adviser.
What's perhaps even more alarming is that the mix-up occurred during a tax code review after she changed jobs last year. The system matched her employment data with another woman who shared some of her personal details, but fortunately, their NI numbers remained unaffected.
HMRC has since disentangled the two women and will refund the overpaid tax in her next payslip. It's also offering £75 in compensation for the distress caused by the blunder.
When questioned about the incident, HMRC stated that while they didn't consider it a data breach because the other woman's name, address, and date of birth weren't shared, this explanation has done little to alleviate the concern raised by the woman involved.
. £450 a month is crazy! I can barely make ends meet as it is and thinking someone else's tax mistake is just adding insult to injury 
. And 90 minutes on hold? Unbelievable 
. How are people supposed to deal with that kind of stress? It’s just not right that they had to wait that long for someone to help them fix the problem. I hope HMRC takes steps to fix this issue ASAP so it doesn't happen to anyone else 
.
And for what? A mix-up in their system? 
It's just so frustrating when things don't go as planned, you know? 
On the bright side, HMRC is trying to fix it and making amends in a way that shows they care. 
The £75 compensation is nice too! 
But still, I hope they review their whole system and make sure something like this doesn't happen again... we all deserve better than that! 
And what's with the wait time for an adviser? 90 minutes?! You could've watched a whole season of Netflix in that time 
. HMRC, nice job on taking a perfectly good tax system and turning it into a comedy show. I mean, who needs data protection when you can just match someone else's identity? 
It's not like she did anything wrong or asked for it. The fact that another woman was matched by their system is just a major fail 
. And £75 compensation? That's not enough 
. I think HMRC needs to step up their game and make sure this kind of thing doesn't happen again! #TaxBlunder #HMRCFail #JusticeForTheLady
anyway, the good news is HMRC is fixing it and refunding her tax & giving her compensation 
. Can't have people suffering like that anymore 
.