In November, HM Revenue and Customs randomly associated someone else’s job to my national insurance (NI) number. I can see where they work, when they started, their payroll number and how much they are earning.
HMRC is now taxing me as if I have two jobs, earning twice as much as I do, and adding on a tax adjustment for the tax it thinks I didn’t pay last year. It’s costing me about £450 a month in extra tax and NI contributions.
I waited 90 minutes to be put through to an adviser and was told they haven’t got round to it yet.
BH Chorley, Lancashire
Your plight seems unnervingly similar to the case of a reader who was deemed dead by HMRC after it mistakenly gave her the NI number of a since-deceased stranger. The most shocking aspect is not the blunders but the subsequent insouciance.
HMRC told me that during a tax code review after you had changed jobs last year, its system matched your employment data to that of another woman who shared some of your personal details. Your NI numbers were unaffected.
It has now disentangled the two of you and will refund your overpaid tax in your next payslip. It is also paying £75 in compensation. I asked if, since you could view the other woman’s employment details, it had declared a data breach to the Information Commissioner’s Office.
It said this was not required as the woman’s name, address and date of birth were not shared.
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