HMRC has come under fire for making taxpayers wait a year for a £150,000 tax rebate. A Guardian newspaper advice column heard from a taxpayer who explained, when their mother died, there was a four-year delay in achieving probate owing to financial complexities.
They wrote: "During this time my father paid inheritance tax (IHT) on the advice of his solicitor, to prevent interest accruing. It turned out that the solicitor’s estimate of the amount was wildly out.
"My father applied for a rebate a year ago and, eight months later, HMRC confirmed that he was owed £153,500. Two more months have passed without a word. My father is 86 and I do wonder if HMRC is hoping he will die before it has to pay.
"He used all his savings, and had to sell a field to pay the tax he thought he owed, and it’s left him very short of money."
HMRC Blames Handling Error
HMRC blamed a "handling error" for the delay. A newspaper reader replied: "I waited over a year for a £3000 tax rebate, due after I took a redundancy deal midway through the tax year. I needed the money as I had no income apart from redundancy pay. I got no interest on it."
A second fumed: "This is where civil servants are not realising that they are public servants. We pay their wages the least they can do is deliver a fit for purpose service. By the way I'm a civil servant so I know what I'm talking about."
A third typed: "I have been waiting since the beginning of March for a rebate paid on a pension lump sum under emergency tax. Not hugely long I suppose.
"However when I checked on the HMRC website I was told to expect an answer by February 2027. Bit more than 15 working days."
