So I've just received entirely out of the blue from HMRC, a demand for inheritance tax of a few thousand pounds, dated about 13 years ago.
I've never received any inheritance in my life. The only thing that could vaguely be linked to anyone I know would be a few hundred stuck in my ISA at the time which could have came from my grandparents before they died a few years later but that's a huge longshot as it would have been from cash via my parents.
What do I do next? The only option I can see is sitting on the phone all day when they open monday and asking for proof.
My assumption would be that they've got me mixed up with someone else but I don't know what my recourse is.
>>7945 The bank account details on the letter definitely belong to HMRC.
The phone number on the letter, doesn't appear anywhere on HRMCs website, but does seem to fit into the block of number they do use.
Looking at the letter, it starts:
Dear mr "my name"
Mr "my name" (date)
ten year anniversary c (date)
.........
is this saying that someone with the same name as me died on that date?
As a trustee, you will have to pay a charge on every 10 year anniversary of the date your trust was set up if your trust contains relevant property with a value above the Inheritance Tax threshold.
You can also log into the HRMC site to see your tax stuff. If it's the first time you've done it, registering it is a bit of a faff, but likely still smoother than waiting on hold all weekend.
>>7949 Which is what I said I would do in the OP
But their phone lines are open from 8am-4pm monday to friday and there's usually a queue an hour long. I can at least spend the weekend to try and get a better understanding of the situation before I try.
Contact HMRC and ask for an explanation; it's probably just a cock-up that can be resolved quickly. If they still think that you owe them tax, you have substantial rights to appeal:
>>7944 Are you quite sure it is genuine? HMRC can go back as long as they like if they think you have been fraudulent, but generally they only go back 7 years.
They have to explain. Something backdated 13 years sounds very odd though, and I would certainly get them on the phone first.
Call them, as others have said. It might take 30-60 minutes of on-hold time but in my experience but when it comes to genuine misunderstandings the people on the other end can and want to actually help you. They still might say it's above their pay grade (in so many words) but that still gives you the thumbs up that this may require an accountant.
>>7955 Have you typed a couple of key sentences from the letter into google, see if it's a common scam?
I'd say, if you can't get through to them easily, then just ignore it and wait to see if another letter arrives. If it's genuine (and it isn't), the taxman can hardly fault you for not jumping to attention on a 13 year old matter they've just dug up, especially as you know it's bollocks.
Scammers rely on the feeling of panic to get people to pay. Treat this like an Indian sounding dude calling from Microsoft to discuss the viruses on your BT line. It's only getting to you because it's your first go round.
Solved (touch wood)
The number on the letter was the debt management team, they couldn't do anything other than payment so they told me I had to ring the inheritance tax team.
Got passed around 3 different people before getting through to someone who could help.
Apparently, as I thought in my earlier post, the person who died had the same name as me (very rare surname, common as muck first name), and seemingly in passing the records onto the debt management team someone hasn't checked the details right.
Should get a letter in a few days confirming I have no connection to the debt.
To the people saying it could have been a scam:
Yes I know there are a lot of scams along these lines, and I would give anyone else the advice to treat it as such. But I know what to look out for and at no point in this particular scam was there anything to suggest otherwise, with the exception of that first phone number on the letter not being published on the internet.
Odd as it might seem, inheritance tax is levied against the person who died rather than the people who inherit their estate. The reasoning is perfectly sensible albeit rather complicated, but it does lead to the uncomfortable fact of debt collection agencies chasing after dead people.