The following announcement was posted on the HMRC website today:

Annual Coding: multiple or incorrect Coding Notices – update

We advised you that HMRC recently introduced a new National Insurance and PAYE system and that we are using it to issue tax coding notices for the first time.

The transition to the new system has brought to light some discrepancies in our existing records and this is resulting in a number of incorrect coding notices being issued.

We have been working hard to identify situations where customers could receive an incorrect coding notice and have identified three key situations where this may occur. These are:

• Where a previous employment stopped sometime ago but our system has not picked this up and a coding notice has been sent for that employment
• Where 2 notices have been sent for the same employment and
• Where the code BR (basic tax) or DO (higher rate tax) has been given for an employment or pension for the first time.

We are looking to correct as many of these discrepancies as possible well in advance of the new tax year and we are doing all we can to ensure no one pays too much tax from April.

If you are concerned about your tax code and you think it is wrong, particularly if it falls into one of these three categories, then check it using the guidance included with the coding notice and the income tax area of our website. If you cannot resolve your query using this please contact us on 0845 3000 627 so we can make sure you have the right tax code applied in time for the start of the new tax year on 6 April 2010.

If you think you are affected by the HMRC’s systems failure and require any help confirming that you are on the correct tax code, please get in touch with Humphrey & Co and we will be able to assist you.