HMRC leaves taxpayers waiting

Pensioners and self- employed people have been unable to pay bills because the tax office has failed to process refunds worth thousands of pounds.

Taxpayers have been kept waiting months for rebates that are normally completed within a matter of weeks because of severe delays at HM Revenue & Customs.

One pensioner said he faced losing his home, as delays in payment meant he risked not being able to pay his mortgage.

Writing on the tax authority’s own online forum, he said he had been waiting since May to no avail.

“The refund is related to overpayment of tax by the pension fund provider and is in excess of £12,000. This is my final source of income for the year and the constant delays will result in my mortgage provider foreclosing on me by the end of this month,” he said.

Another wrote she was waiting on a five-figure refund after overpaying tax on a pension withdrawal. The taxpayer pleaded for help, saying the money was her only income. “HMRC appear to be a law unto themselves with taxpayers’ money and I’m at my [wits’ end] as I need it for living expenses,” she said.

Telegraph Money reader David Samuel- Camps, 76, from Hampshire, applied for a rebate worth just £316 at the end of April, but said he was told his request would not be processed until May next year. He said he could not fathom how HMRC could justify a processing time of 12 months for such a simple and small refund.

An HMRC spokesman apologised for the delays and said it was working through a backlog of post that “had built up over the past year”. Harry Brennan