HMRC have apologised for a problem that they have identified with the self assessment tax return. The problem apparently only relates to tax returns submitted prior to 31 October 2007 where the taxpayer asked for any unpaid tax to be collected directly rather than by a restriction in their tax codes for 2008/09. It is only possible to collect underpayments via a tax code restriction where you are an employee or company director, with sufficient pay to enable any underpayment up to £2,000 to be collected.
If you have received a statement advising you that your unpaid tax will be collected through your PAYE tax code and you would rather pay directly please let us know as soon as possible so we can sort this out.
If alternatively you are happy to have the underpayment collected through your tax code, please let us have a copy of your coding notice for checking when received.
