PAYE Balancing Statement P21c

H

Han Solo

Registered User
Messages
20
Hello

Received the other day my P21c. There was a small underpayment on my part. But rather than say please forward a cheque in respect of the arrears. The sentence in the bottom left says something to the effect "I will not be seeking repayment of this underpayment" or something to that effect. (Sorry left it at home)

Is this common ?

Are there certain limits below which Revenue don't chase ?

Any assistance greatly appreciated.

Many thanks
 
I have had this myself, I dont know what the underpayment limit is, mine was 273 last year, and 215 the year before.
 
I have just received our p21 also and we underpaid by 375.25, it says at the bottom, "this underpayment will not be collected at this time", when will they look for it? will it be taken from my husband's next pay cheque? If anyone knows could you please post as I tried ringing the tax office, got a machine that said try again later.
 
Maybe they will simply adjust your tax credits for next year to collect the outstanding amount rather than look for a lump sum payment now?
 
Thanks clubman, ever efficient, that must be what they will do. Thanks for that.
 
Why not ring or email them and ask? Adjusting individual tax credits sounds like a lot of work for the Revenue.
 
extopia said:
Why not ring or email them and ask? Adjusting individual tax credits sounds like a lot of work for the Revenue.
Click to expand...
Why? They have to process the individual's tax records anyway so making an adjustment shouldn't be much more hassle. They definitely do this sometimes - I remember myself and some colleagues being hit for BIK income tax on benefits accruing from discounted shares purchased under an Employee Stock Purchase Plan/ESPP and Revenue asked some of them for payment in a lump sum while they adjusted the tax credits for others (including myself) to collect the liability over a few years. If you ever get a demand for a lump sum payment and it would cause hassle then ask them to adjust the tax credits instead to collect it gradually over a period of time. I can't imagine Revenue waiving their claim to outstanding tax liabilities other than when rounding figures to the nearest € as they often do.
 
It is normal Revenue practice to waive collection of residual PAYE shortfalls such as the above. The notation "this underpayment will not be collected at this time" clearly indicates that this option is being exercised in this case. If the Revenue opt in a particular case to recoup a shortfall by adjusting future years' tax credits, then this is indicated on the P21.

Given that large numbers of civil & public servants (particularly those working for health boards & the Dept of Education) seem to have inadvertently underpaid PAYE amounts of €300 or so in 2004 (presumably due to errors in PPARS and similar systems), the Revenue probably have no option but to write off many of the sums concerned due to the volume of work and hassle that would be involved in recovering the underpayments
 
ubiquitous said:
It is normal Revenue practice to waive collection of residual PAYE shortfalls such as the above. The notation "this underpayment will not be collected at this time" clearly indicates that this option is being exercised in this case. If the Revenue opt in a particular case to recoup a shortfall by adjusting future years' tax credits, then this is indicated on the P21.
Click to expand...
To be fair the orginial poster was not 100% sure of the wording and it could have actually been (could actually be) along the lines of what maura posted above suggesting that the shortfall will be recouped at a later date (e.g. through and adjustment to the 2006 tax credits).

Given that large numbers of civil & public servants (particularly those working for health boards & the Dept of Education) seem to have inadvertently underpaid PAYE amounts of €300 or so in 2004 (presumably due to errors in PPARS and similar systems), the Revenue probably have no option but to write off many of the sums concerned due to the volume of work and hassle that would be involved in recovering the underpayments
Click to expand...
The BIK tax involved in the ESPP that I mentioned above was in or around that sort of figure and Revenue did not waive collection of it.

Can anybody point to authoritative information (e.g. a TCA or tax briefing reference if applicable) that clarifies precisely in what circumstances Revenue waive collection of outstanding tax liabilities?
 
To be fair the orginial poster was not 100% sure of the wording and it could have actually been (could actually be) along the lines of what maura posted above suggesting that the shortfall will be recouped at a later date (e.g. through and adjustment to the 2006 tax credits).
Click to expand...

I disagree. The P21, as quoted above, said clearly that Revenue will not pursue collection of the shortfall. Where Revenue opts to collect shortfalls by adjusting future tax credits, this is denoted explicitly on the P21.

I cannot comment on your previous experience.
 
ubiquitous said:
I disagree. The P21, as quoted above, said clearly that Revenue will not pursue collection of the shortfall.
Click to expand...
Hardly 100% confident, eh?
Han Solo said:
The sentence in the bottom left says something to the effect "I will not be seeking repayment of this underpayment" or something to that effect. (Sorry left it at home)
Click to expand...
 
ubiquitous said:
I repeat....
Click to expand...
Yes - but this is what you disagreed with earlier:
ubiquitous said:
ClubMan said:
To be fair the orginial poster was not 100% sure of the wording and it could have actually been (could actually be) along the lines of what maura posted above suggesting that the shortfall will be recouped at a later date (e.g. through and adjustment to the 2006 tax credits).
Click to expand...
I disagree. The P21, as quoted above, said clearly that Revenue will not pursue collection of the shortfall.
Click to expand...
As I have shown Han Solo betrayed a certain lack of certainty about the precise wording of the document which leaves open the possibility of alternative valid explanations such as maura's. Once Han Solo has confirmed the precise wording of the document definite assertions on this specific matter might be more appropriate.
 
What alternative valid explanation? Maura's P21 said that "this underpayment will not be collected at this time". Looks clear and cut & dried to me...
 
As far as I know the rules go something like this:
Underpayment < 400 - underpayment will not be collected (However if this happens frequently then they may chase for money)
Underpayment between 400 and 2000 - future tax credits will be adjusted to collect any money outstanding up to 8 years in the future
Underpayment > 2000 - Request is made for payment of outstanding amount.
Each case would be dealt with on a case by case basis so the rules above are only guidelines.
 
ubiquitous said:
What alternative valid explanation? Maura's P21 said that "this underpayment will not be collected at this time". Looks clear and cut & dried to me...
Click to expand...
Yes "at this time" which suggests that it may be collected "at a later time" rather than not at all - for example:
ACCK01 said:
Underpayment between 400 and 2000 - future tax credits will be adjusted to collect any money outstanding up to 8 years in the future
Click to expand...
 
Would a P21 be a standard document?

If so, I guess the accountants who are posting here should probably have more knowledge of what the wording means as opposed to the literal wording

Yes "at this time" which suggests that it may be collected "at a later time" rather than not at all - for example:
Click to expand...

Then again I could be wrong
 
bullets said:
Would a P21 be a standard document?
Click to expand...
If the rules outlined by ACCK01 are anything to go by then it would suggest that P21s would vary in content to some extent in the different situations described.
 
bullets said:
Would a P21 be a standard document?

If so, I guess the accountants who are posting here should probably have more knowledge of what the wording means as opposed to the literal wording
Click to expand...

From my days in practice which admittedly is a good few years go now I found that sometimes different tax offices took different approaches to various matters, this could account for some of the different experiences.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top