Self-employed income verification

[mikey47]

Anyone else having an enormous headache with income verification?

I am self-employed and have been asked in the automated emails to submit an “HMRC headed” SA302.

My accountants use commercial software to submit my return – as, I understand, is common – and this generates an SA302 but not one on HMRC headed paper.

HMRC self-service tells me expressly, when I log in, that I cannot get an SA302 direct from HMRC since it has not been submitted via their system.

Have now had two emails from Barclays rejecting my docs.

Somewhat despairing here – according to a quick Google, if your accountant submits through commercial software, you just can’t get an HMRC SA302.

Has anyone else had any problems with this? Or any experience on the best route to sorting this? The email says I can call or go in branch, but am rather sceptical that either will be a fruitful experience on this …

• This topic was modified 54 years, 4 months ago by .

[ChrisDB]

For mortgages the accepted practice is to submit the software generated tax calculation and an HMRC tax overview (you or your accountant should be able to generate this from the HMRC portal). The overview confirms the tax paid as a check on the calculation. Suggest you try that.

[Dudulle]

You should be able to verify income by sending your last 2/4 bank statements (should have the details for the right number according to circumstances in the email they sent)
Didn’t have any luck with that personally though.

[The Savage Squirrel]

I had exactly this issue a couple of years ago with accountant’s software just generating an unheaded tax calculation. The lender eventually accepted the SA100 (which is basically a copy of your completed tax return) instead, which your accountant should be able to provide.

[Jonathans]

Same situation, I had submitted the tax year overview plus bank statement showing dividends plus computations. All rejected by Barclaycard but no explanation of why. So I’ve now resubmitted a copy of my tax return, bank statements, computations, tax year overviews. There isn’t much more I can send them so fingers crossed it gets accepted this time.

[Peter K]

I had a similar problem with a different bank when applying for a mortgage a few years ago. In my case I rang HMRC and, with much grumbling on their part that the banks have agreed to accept non official HMRC printouts, they agreed to send me the docs I needed in the post.

[Flier33]

Same problem here, even visited a branch to try and sort this out. Nothing worked and I’ve decided to just close the account. This headache (and time wasted on calls, bank visits etc.) is not worth no amount of Avios.

[MNDltd]

Ive the same issue. At the moment I have a £200 credit limit which kind of makes it pointless ( no pun intended ) for getting the extra Avios. Amex gave me 20k that with no questions or checks.

[HughM]

We applied for two Barclaycard Avios, myself and wife. I was given the card without an income check; wife was asked for pay slips and HMRC tax calculation, which was rejected (this is partnership income rather than self-employment, but exactly the same figure as mine). That leaves her with the £200 monthly spending limit with the card operating rather like a prepaid: she keeps making small payments to Barclaycard by debit card. No possibility of spending enough for the bonus Avios. She is minded to keep the card for now, and review credit limit after 6 months.

[Flier33]

HughM wrote:

We applied for two Barclaycard Avios, myself and wife. I was given the card without an income check; wife was asked for pay slips and HMRC tax calculation, which was rejected (this is partnership income rather than self-employment, but exactly the same figure as mine). That leaves her with the £200 monthly spending limit with the card operating rather like a prepaid: she keeps making small payments to Barclaycard by debit card. No possibility of spending enough for the bonus Avios. She is minded to keep the card for now, and review credit limit after 6 months.

Note, from my experience they will eventually close her account if she does not complete the process.

[G]

Applied for P2 who’s income is from pension and rental income.

Sent off SA302 and bank statements. Got the following back: Unfortunately, we can’t see your income clearly on the documents uploaded

Rental income is just a bank transfer every month so not sure what they expect!

So limit stays at £200 and account will be closed mid September. Don’t think I can get £3k in by then as they are so slow to post transactions and you cannot pay off balance until it’s posted. I have not found a way to go in credit so I can spend more and get the bonus in time.

[AJA]

@G Does P2’s name appear on the rental contract? If so can you send a copy of that to back up the entries on the bank statement? (Assumes tenant name is what appears on the bank statement)

• This reply was modified 54 years, 4 months ago by .

[G]

Good shout @AJA, I’ll give that a go. Both names on tenancy agreement match what Barclaycard should expect.

[mikey47]

Thanks very much all – I have tried with some different docs from HMRC’s website – will see how it goes, but I’m not very optimistic. It seems like they apply a bizarrely formulaic approach that cuts out a lot of self-employed people who have an accountant …

[Mzungu]

mikey47 wrote:

Anyone else having an enormous headache with income verification?

I am self-employed and have been asked in the automated emails to submit an “HMRC headed” SA302.

My accountants use commercial software to submit my return – as, I understand, is common – and this generates an SA302 but not one on HMRC headed paper.

HMRC self-service tells me expressly, when I log in, that I cannot get an SA302 direct from HMRC since it has not been submitted via their system.

Have now had two emails from Barclays rejecting my docs.

Somewhat despairing here – according to a quick Google, if your accountant submits through commercial software, you just can’t get an HMRC SA302.

Has anyone else had any problems with this? Or any experience on the best route to sorting this? The email says I can call or go in branch, but am rather sceptical that either will be a fruitful experience on this …

Much the same here, maybe worse. I applied with no issues (before the 50k offer), so when the offer came up, decided to apply for one for my wife. Self employed, so got the £200 limit and email asking for income verification. Thought the details requested weren’t clear, so called to confirm. Submitted exactly what they requested – wait 1 week (5 working days!) – same email received. Called again, submitted more documents. Rinse and repeat.

Have now received the same email 4 times, called each time – they have to contact the ‘team’ that review the documents via chat, which takes ages. Seems they live in an ivory tower and won’t speak to anyone. Called again today, and got lost after more than an hour on hold.
Total calls to date: 16, 3 of these well over an hour.
Last time submitted 10 documents, including one I wrote with full detials and explanation – same result.

Ironically, we would like to get the card – since getting mine I have cancelled my BAPP and a couple of other Mastercards. Wife was going to do the same. We would also like to earn an upgrade voucher each.

• This reply was modified 54 years, 4 months ago by .

[0 post]

Hey there. I totally understand your struggle. I’ve been there myself. It sounds like you’re running into issues with obtaining the SA302 form on HMRC headed paper. Don’t worry. You’re not alone. It’s a common problem. I’ve found that a good alternative is using an adp check stub maker to generate paystubs that can verify your income.

[0 post]

I’ve found that a good alternative is using an adp check stub maker to generate paystubs that can verify your income. These paystubs can be easily created and are accepted by most banks and financial institutions. Give it a try and see if it works for you. Keep the thread updated.

[meyerbro]

My wife is having the same issue. I just don’t understand why they allow self-employed people to apply if they are not willing to accept any document and don’t let us know the reason too.

[csabapalfi]

I came across the same problem and I ended up asking both the HMRC and Barclaycard on Twitter.

HMRC proposed I ask for a printed/posted SA302 on their web chat which I did. I had to tell the chatbot ‘speak to agent’ twice and that did the trick to get through to someone.

My tax calculation on HRMC headed paper arrived last week via post which I just uploaded and waiting to see if that gets accepted.