HMRC tax return seems wrong

[stunner1901]

Good evening
my son has just filed a tax refund claim as it was showing he was due £2850.
However he has just received a cheque for £110 which they claim is what he is due after previous years interest and penalties.

I have looked looked account and it seems that they are charging penalties for jan2026 which surely is incorrect.

For example in 2020 they charged him 1100 but then it says jan 2026 they are billing him another 800 but if it was cleared today surely there is none due in January

I hope I make sense and I hope I am in the right place for help

Tia
Steve

[PallasAthena]

I doubt that we can answer detailed questions here about your son's tax calculations. He needs to speak to HMRC for more explanation.

However it is correct that if he was owed money by HMRC for the tax year just finished (2024-25) HMRC will first use that credit to settle interest and penalties owing from previous years before paying him what is left.

Are you sure they are charging penalties for January 2026 and not payments on account for the current tax year? If your son is self employed or receiving income outside the PAYE system HMRC will typically ask for payments on account to be made for tax which will be due for the current (2025-26) year, usually in two installments in July 2025 and January 2026.

[stunner1901]

My son is now and has been since 2019 employed under PAYE so I cannotnunderstand why he has been charged penalties for late returns when he was no longer self employed. I will attach a screen shot of the charges for you to look at.
please see attached
Many thanks

[echat11]

You need to write /use a spreadsheet, note the years of Self Employment / Employment, note what they are claiming i.e. penalties etc to show that the penalties are 'erroneous'. It's easily sorted, albeit late.

https://www.gov.uk/tax-appeals

[PallasAthena]

Has your son actually told HMRC that he is no longer self employed or has he just been ignoring the HMRC penalty notices for the last 3-4 years?

If was previously registered as self employed with HMRC he had to de-register himself when he stopped being self-employed. If he didn't HMRC will assume he is still self employed but just failing to submit his tax returns. Which might explain the penalties.

[stunner1901]

He never even knew he was being penalised. He has had no correspondence whatsoever from them.
He didn't realise he had to notify them as he thought as they could see he was employed that would be enough.
Definitely never received anything from them though.

[PallasAthena]

That may be how this has arisen. He needed to de-register as self employed. People can, and many do, have more than one job. They can be employed in one job on PAYE and in another be self employed. So HMRC seeing your son had PAYE income would not tell them he no longer had any self employment income from a second job.