I made just £20 pet-sitting – now HMRC’s billed me £100 for a late tax return

I SET up a pet-sitting business and made only £20 in the tax year 2014/15.

I called HMRC and was told all I needed to do was write in, setting out details of the cash movements on my business account.

In February, I received a £100 late-filing penalty as I’d not completed a tax return. I was told to appeal, but have heard nothing. W. S., Middlesex. HAVING made such a small amount, many people might have chosen to pocket it — but you did the honest thing and told HMRC. Then you say you were given incorrect advice and clobbered with a £100 fine for your trouble.

looking at your accounts, you actually made a loss in those first months because you spent £116 on business cards and £7 on stationery, and you only had £20 come in.

You did try to register via the government gateway to file your tax online in January, but something went wrong.

HMRC says it has no record of the phone call where you were told you did not need to complete a self-assessment return.

however, it has rescinded the fine and called you to explain you do need to file a self-assessment return every year, even though your income is low. There will be other benefits in this because, eventually, if your income is high enough, the process could also deal with national insurance and credits to the state pension.

A spokesman says: ‘We have spoken with your reader and explained this as we appreciate completing the return can be quite daunting the first time.’

You now have your refund and, hopefully, your business is producing rather greater profits this year. I HAD a minor car accident when reversing in a car park. My warning signal beeped once and I just touched the other car.

I am 86 and my wife is 80. I have 18 years’ no-claims bonus.

I thought there was no damage, so did not get out to check. A week later, I received a call from our insurer, Admiral, about a possible accident. I was told I must accept responsibility and that an independent engineer would examine my car.

The only damage we could see was a circular spot approximately 1 cm in diameter and 50 cm from the ground.

A letter from Admiral stated a settlement of £1,780 had been paid for the other car. I told Admiral I suspected fraud.

In January, the joint policy to insure my wife’s car and my own rose from £515 to £1,391.

The cost of the accident showing on my renewal document had risen to £2,179. This will also show on the insurance database, which will affect my future premiums if I try to move insurer. J. R., Middlesex. This has taken a while to untangle, and i have good and bad news for you.

Admiral has reviewed your case and admits it was not investigated as thoroughly as it should have been. The third-party claim was paid in full without scrutinising the full extent of the vehicle damage.

it has compared the damage to your vehicle with that of the other car and agrees it is not consistent with the collision as you have described it. Therefore, Admiral removed details of the costs of the claim from the Claims and Underwriting Exchange. however, the incident itself will still be recorded.

Admiral says the additional costs of the claim did not pass the threshold that would have resulted in a further increase to your premium.

Unfortunately, insurance company experience shows that when someone has an accident they are more likely to be involved in a further accident — and rates reflect this.

Admiral says there has been a general, industry-wide increase in insurance premiums over the past year as well as the increase in insurance Premium Tax.

After a little nudging, it has agreed to send you a £100 goodwill gesture by way of apology. IN OCTOBER, I agreed a £ 12 monthly contract with Vodafone.

My November bill was £72.93, which I immediately queried. Vodafone staff told me to ask my bank to reimburse the charge.

I then received emails stating I would be cut off if no payment was made. A week later, £72.93 was taken from my account again. I complained and was told I would receive a credit.

In December, it charged £8.99 and on January 15 (a month when my phone was not in use), £36.59. I’ve been in Spain and it was virtually impossible to speak to Vodafone. D. T., W. Yorks. i COULD fill this page with complaints about Vodafone. it won’t surprise you to know ofcom figures show the company receives more than double the number of complaints per 100,000 customers than the next worst mobile phone firm for customer service, EE.

Vodafone has agreed to adjust your bills to £12. it has apologised and offered a refund of £60.

it’s not clear what went wrong, but i suggest you go into your phone settings and turn off data roaming. This means you won’t receive emails or be able to access the internet without wifi, but it will prevent bill shock.

A lot of phones work in the background updating themselves, checking for emails and using a lot of internet data. This can be costly if you are abroad and your contract does not include overseas use.