A few weeks ago, I got a leaflet from my union (Amicus) about a company that specialise in checking your income tax and finding out if you are due any rebates. They are called 'Personal Taxation Services' and this is their website: https://secure.taxbuddies.com/ptsindexUnison.php?userid=9000001835&ref=unison. I assume they are cosher as the leaflet came from my trades union, but I have a very low trust level these days. So I was wondering if anyone in the CAG has any experience of dealing with this company.

Best regards,

buggerlugs:-?

hi, last year i received my usual magazine from unison, and inside was a leaflet from a company offering you tax back, ( sorry, but i cant remember the name of the company but the one you have mentioned certainly sounds familiar so it could be the same one ).

they asked about previous jobs, and if i had a uniform to launder myself etc.

the way it works is........

they get your permission and approach the inland revenue and check what payments you have made over the past xxyears, and somehow work out what you are entitled to. eg... if you do have a uniform from work that you have to wash and iron without any cash help from your employer then you are entitled to £45 or £50 per year knocked off your tax bill, ( its unbelievable how many people know nothimg about this ).

also, if they find that you have paid too much then they get it back for you.

now, what they do is normally they take a cut, a rather large cut usually about 60%, so for every pound they get back for you, they keep 60p out off it.

you can look at this in two ways,

1- they have just made x amount of cash out of you and sent you the change, or

2- they have just got you x amount of pounds, which you probably didnt know you were entitled to and probably wouldnt have claimed, so in that case, so what if they have made a bit.

dont forget, that you can also pass on your partners details, and again, if they wear uniforms, then they too also get the reduction, ( you will notice this by looking at your tax code, as it will alter to accomodate the change. on top of this we also passed on a copy of the leaflet to a friend who also claimed quite a substantial amount back and again, got the laundry reduction.

basically it,s up to you. do you decide they are making cash out of you, or do you decide that they are getting you some.

buggerlugs, it,s over to you.

hope this helps, but let me know how you get on ok

You don't need to use a company to claim these allowances, contact your local tax office and ask them the send you the form, complete it including laundry costs, professional subscriptions, journal subscriptions, tights and shoes costs (nurses) and they will sort it

Thank you for your advice bazak1 and poppynurse,

The company that I was considering using charge 40% commission which seemed a little steep to me. However, I have since found another company on the web whose charges start from 18%.

I am going to try and work out if I am due a rebate myself and failing that I may use one of these tax rebate companies. I have got all of my P60s for the last six or seven years, but even so, I don't think its a particularly simple job. For instance, you need to know the various tax bands that were in force each year and the tax rules have changed over the last six years for instance, as a parent I used to get a tax allowance, but this was phased out and now I recieve tax credits instead. Also, I don't have any laundry costs, professional subscriptions or journal subscriptions that I can claim for.

Regards,

buggerlugs:)

what's the name of the company charging just 18%?

The company charging just 18% are called Refunds Direct: https://www.refundsdirect.co.uk/survey/. However, I have also found that the Citizens Advice Bureau publish the tax rates and allowances for the past six years on their website:

Income tax rates

Income tax allowance: amounts

So you can check your tax payments yourself and potentially save yourself some money. I did it this way and I have worked out that I am due a rebate of £300 for the 2005/2006 tax year.

Best regards,

buggerlugs:)

thanks buggers... i'm gonna check this out!

Just give a call to your local tax office - this should be on your payslip and they will be happy to tell you what is and is not allowed to be claimed for a tax rebate.

I am annoyed that some unions are allowingthese private companies to advertise to make such large profits on tax rebates as with 25,000 job cuts planned in HMRC by 2008 it should be incouraging the use of the public sector to justify why these jobs should be kept.

After all, we are all taxpayers and we have already paid for this service!

Hi,

I found this an interesting read! I have had a rebate every year for the past 3 for around £300 however, the questionaire at the above site suggests you can claim back loss of money invested in a company. does anyone know about this and where the relevant info is on HM Revenue & Customs?

Tom

There is a service to claim back these types of refunds and a guide on commercial link removed

There is also a free calculator to work out what your refund might be.

hi guys,

There is another company out there that does tax refunds. Great website and great bunch of guys.

They have reasonable rates and are very professional.

It does pay to seek advice sometimes. They do most of the work.

commercial website address removed

good luck guys

please be very careful when using a company to help you claim tax

My husband used a firm called tax back ( 10 years ago)

they made claims on his behalf going back 6 years we received substantial rebates and paid them a commission

we then received a letter from the inland revenue asking us to make an appointment to go and see them it became very clear during the interview that it was the firm tax back they were investigating and we were informed that if tax back had claimed mileage allowances ETC that he was not entitled to we would have to pay all the money not due to us back

Thankfully we were OK

as said on here you can do it yourself

Hello

I used them and it has been over a year and I moved, but I never got the cheque. Because you cannot get a hold of the company I was wondering what I should do in order to get the tax rebate they has 'sorted out' for me. I rang HM Revenues & Customs and they said because a third party did it on my behalf there is nothing I can do. I did not realise this was basically a [problem] because it came through my trade union magazine.

So is there anyway I can get my cheque/money? Any help needed. I basically had to move from my old flat and now have not had access to the post for over at least a year and a half, so it has probably been binned and as I said I cannot get a hold of them to ask them to re-send to new address.

Please someone help with some advice!

Thanks

T_d

Hello

I used them and it has been over a year and I moved, but I never got the cheque. Because you cannot get a hold of the company I was wondering what I should do in order to get the tax rebate they has 'sorted out' for me. I rang HM Revenues & Customs and they said because a third party did it on my behalf there is nothing I can do. I did not realise this was basically a [problem] because it came through my trade union magazine.

 

So is there anyway I can get my cheque/money? Any help needed. I basically had to move from my old flat and now have not had access to the post for over at least a year and a half, so it has probably been binned and as I said I cannot get a hold of them to ask them to re-send to new address.

 

Please someone help with some advice!

 

Thanks

 

T_d

Contact your Union for legal advice. It should be free especially as it was included in their brochure which indicated endorsement.

Like one of the above as the information arrived via my union GMB so I thought this was a good thing to check as the union recommended it especially as I went on flexible retirement almost 2 years ago but luckily for me I did not have my work P60 to hand due to being on long-term sickness and I got notification from HMRC within a fortnight of contacting the company that I was owed £900 which I could ask for online (their security is very good) so I cancelled my agreement with whoever this company is which saved me over £300. I believe these companies pay a fee to the unions to pass their literature onto members - I think this is disgusting for any union to treat their members as a cash cow.