I’m worried company car tax could cost me my home

Ms J.M. writes: My job comes with a company car, and for a year I had various hire cars from my employer, all pretty standard, such as a Mondeo or Insignia. The tax office has now informed me that for the past five years my employer has submitted incorrect details of my benefits in kind, including company cars. Through no fault of my own, I am now on a PAYE tax code that lets the Revenue claw back what it believes I owe. I am a single parent, and after paying my bills I am left with just £100 a month, and I fear I will lose my home. OFFICIALS at the head office of HM Revenue have been very helpful, and have given me details of your company cars back to 2014. The crucial point is that there was no overlap in the vehicles, as I think you suspected. You have only notched up a tax bill for the job perk of having the private use of one company car at a time, which is correct.

Tax office staff say they have not claimed that your employer submitted incorrect details. But even if this were the case, your own tax return each year would have supplied the Revenue with the correct details.

The Revenue did make one big mistake though. It started to collect £3,866 in tax arrears, but when it became clear this was causing hardship, your tax office revised your PAYE code. In error, the revision was backdated, handing you about £1,600. To avoid any future hardship, the Revenue will now collect the £3,866 gradually over three years, rather than in just one year.