SAM112041 - Repayments: recover over-repayment: over-repayments: recovery of a repayment made to charity (Action Guide)
If you are recovering an over-repayment made to a charity, consider steps 1 - 16 below. The guide is presented as follows
If the status of the repayment is ‘Draft’, ‘Selected’ or ‘Authorised’ - Steps 1 - 6
If the status of the repayment is ‘Issued’ and the over-repayment is the result of a taxpayer error on the return - Steps 7 - 9
If the status of the repayment is ‘Issued’ and the over-repayment is the result of HMRC error - Steps 10 - 16
For details on how to access any of the SA functions, select ‘Index Of Functions’ on the left of the screen.
If the status of the repayment is ‘Draft’, ‘Selected’ or ‘Authorised’
1. If the status of the BACS repayment shown in function VIEW REPAYMENT is ‘Draft’, ‘Selected’ or ‘Authorised’ you should
- Cancel the repayment using function VIEW REPAYMENT
Notes:
a. If the status is ‘Selected’ or ‘Authorised’, the repayment must be cancelled by an operator with the role of Repayment Authoriser (RALO)
b. If the repayment status is ‘Transmitted’, a BACS repayment cannot be cancelled during this stage
2. The taxpayer’s return should then be captured correctly in order to establish the correct overpayment amount available for repayment
3. The taxpayer should be contacted and advised that due to either a return or capture error (as appropriate) we have been unable to automatically send their repayment to charity. However if they still wish their repayment to be sent to their nominated charity they should provide the full name, address and bank details for the charity in writing and we will make the repayment clerically. Also they will need to indicate whether Gift Aid should be applied
The taxpayer should be advised that if we do not receive this information within the following 10 days, then the repayment will be issued to them by payable order
4. On receipt of the repayment information from the taxpayer or following the expiry of 10 days, the repayment should be issued as appropriate using function ISSUE REPAYMENT FROM OVERPAID BALANCE
5. If the taxpayer has provided the information to enable the repayment to be made to the charity and indicated that Gift Aid should be applied, an e-mail should be sent to IR Charities, SA Giving (Specialist PT) as shown on the global e-mail address list and the following details provided
- SA reference
- Name and address of nominated charity (from the screen in function VIEW REPAYMENT)
- Date the repayment was issued
- Amount of the donation / repayment
- Gift Aid should be applied
6. An entry should be made in function MAINTAIN SA NOTES to confirm that HMRC Charities have been advised of the repayment to which Gift Aid has been applied
If the status of the repayment is ‘Issued’ and the over-repayment is the result of a taxpayer error on the return
7. The taxpayer should be asked to provide the correct information and the SA return amended accordingly. The amendment of the return will result in an over-repayment amount being created on the SA record. This amount will be pursued automatically from the taxpayer by the SA system
8. If(This content has been withheld because of exemptions in the Freedom of Information Act 2000) the original repayment was Gift Aided, you should notify HMRC Charities in order that they can reclaim from the charity any tax already refunded on the over-repaid donation. An e-mail should be sent to IR Charities, SA Giving (Specialist PT) as shown the global e-mail address list and provide the following details
- SA reference
- Name and address of nominated charity (from the screen in function VIEW REPAYMENT)
- Charity code (from return captured on LDC)
- Date the repayment was ‘Issued’
- Amount of the original donation / repayment
- Amount of the over-repayment to charity
9. An entry should be made in function MAINTAIN SA NOTES to confirm that HMRC Charities have been advised of the over-repayment
If the status of the repayment is ‘Issued’ and the over-repayment is the result of HMRC error
10. Where the repayment has been issued for an excessive amount or to the wrong charity, the charity should be contacted to explain the error and request that the over-repayment is repaid to HMRC
(This content has been withheld because of exemptions in the Freedom of Information Act 2000)
- If the charity does not return the over-repaid amount (This content has been withheld because of exemptions in the Freedom of Information Act 2000) a formal charge should be created to recover the over-repayment from the charity. This is done by direct input of DRIER charges on the Strategic Accounting Framework Environment (SAFE) system by the identifying office
- View SAFE to ascertain if a SAFE record exists for the charity
- Where no SAFE record exists, create a Customer Account Record (CAR)
- Use the Charge Type ‘DRIER IT’ (available in the drop-down menu) to raise the DRIER charge on SAFE
- Use ‘Print Payslip’ on SAFE to produce a SAFE PS1, using the 14 digit SAFE Charge Reference
- Issue a notification to the taxpayer in the form of a letter advising
- How the over-repayment has arisen
- That a charge has been raised and payment is due within 30 days
- That payment should be made to the Banking Operations Team, Shipley, using the enclosed payslip (SAFE PS1)
Note: If for any reason a charge has been raised in the wrong amount, the charge must be cancelled and a new charge raised
14. If the over-repayment is not returned after this first application, the Miscellaneous Charges Unit will take over pursuit and issue two further written applications and a telephone call to the charity as necessary(This content has been withheld because of exemptions in the Freedom of Information Act 2000)
15. Where an over-repayment to charity has not been returned (This content has been withheld because of exemptions in the Freedom of Information Act 2000) the Banking Operations office will notify HMRC Charities using the IR Charities, SA Giving (Specialist PT) e-mail address that the over-repayment has not been repaid. This is in order that HMRC Charities can refer the case onto the Charities Commission for further investigation if necessary
16. If following the creation of an over-repayment charge the over-repayment is returned by the charity, it should be allocated against the DRIER charge at the Network Unit and not the SA record