December 16th, 2019

The Jonathan Ford & Co Advent Calendar – Day 16

 

Over the course of the festive season we’ll be bringing you an advent calendar’s worth of tax and financial tips.  Some of them might even be a little Christmassy!  There’s a cautionary tale behind door number 16…

Beware of scams

Christmas is a joyous time of year but it can be expensive.  So that email you’ve just received from HMRC promising you a refund seems to have arrived at an opportune moment.  You just need to click the link, complete an online form with your bank details and, just as AC/DC promised, you’re account balance will be back in black.

Whoa whoa whoa!  That’s English for stop a horse.  Or in this case, stop reading the email and delete it immediately because it’s a scam.  If you are due a tax refund, HMRC will never contact you about it by email or text message and they certainly won’t ask for your bank details in that manner.

Now that we’ve cleared that up, here are some handy tips to keep your cash out of fraudsters’ hands:

So if you are actually due a tax refund, how do you go about getting it repaid to you?  Most tax refunds are calculated at the point a tax return is prepared so the easiest way is to enter your bank details onto your tax return.  When HMRC process your return, they will then automatically issue your refund by bank transfer.

You can also request a refund by logging into your personal tax account or by getting us, as your tax agent, to request it on your behalf.  You can also fill in an official online form provided by HMRC which can be found here.

Always, remember: if something appears too good to be true then it probably is.

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HMRC Scams

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Director

John manages a wide portfolio of owner managed businesses and oversees the smooth operation of the firm’s payroll department.

After obtaining his degree in mathematics from the University of Liverpool, John joined Jonathan Ford & Co in 2004 and qualified as a chartered accountant four years later. John likes to keep abreast of developments in tax and accounting and is responsible for the mentoring of junior staff.

Outside of work, John enjoys powerlifting and is a Liverpool FC season ticket holder.

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