Personal, Business, and Trust Tax Support

Error: SA100 Total does not agree with calculated value in Personal Tax

Scenario

You might get the following error message when you submit a return to HMRC online with Personal, Business and Trust Tax.
Error message
'The submission of this document has failed due to departmental specific business logic in the Body tag. Self calculation case. The total tax due in box [CAL1] does not agree with the calculated value of £[xxx.xx]. The difference is - £[xxx.xx]. Please check.

Causes

This error occurs when the liability or refund calculated by Personal, Business and Trust Tax differs to the liability calculated by HMRC. The tolerance for differences in the CAL 1/2 figure permitted by HMRC is £5.
Unless you’ve manually changed the return using the
Enable editing
 function, the most likely cause will be HMRC’s incorrect handling of exclusions.
The error has become more frequent since 2016/17, when changes were made to the savings rate band and dividend exemptions. Since then, it has not always been beneficial to allocate the Personal Allowance against the order of Non-Savings/Savings/Dividends.

Solution 1: update the application

Make sure that you have the latest version of Personal, Business and Trust Tax.

Solution 2: remove the Marriage Allowance Transfer claim

If the difference is £250 (also £250 for 19/20), give or take a few pence due to rounding, then Marriage Allowance Transfer relief is likely to be the cause.
A taxpayer who has fallen into the higher rate band will not be eligible to claim their spouse's unused Personal Allowance. A
Tax Aware
 item will appear in the
Client Summary
 to advise: 'Marriage Allowance should not be claimed as client is not a basic rate taxpayer. Reconsider whether a claim should be made.'
  1. Open the spouse's record.
  2. Select
    Edit
    , then
    Schedule Editor
     from the main menu.
  3. Double-click
    Personal Allowances
    .
  4. Select the
    Marriage Allowance
    Transfer
    tab.
  5. Clear the
    Transfer to spouse
     checkbox.
  6. Select
    OK
    .
  7. Close the Schedule Editor.

Solution 3: undo manual edits of the return

You should only make a manual edit of the return if you're advised to do so by Customer Support. A manual edit does not change the underlying calculation by Personal, Business and Trust Tax and can cause this error.
  1. Select
    Form
    , then
    Edit Tax Return
     from the main menu.
  2. Select the tab for the relevant page of the return.
  3. Right-click in the manually edited box and select
    Revert to Original Value
     from the context menu.

Solution 4: correct rounding to meet HMRC expectations

If the difference is
smaller
 than 1% of the tax liability/refund, then the error is likely to have been caused by rounding. If you're in any doubt that it could be a rounding issue, send the file to Customer Support for investigation. Otherwise, take the following steps to resolve this issue.
  1. Select
    Form
    , then
    Edit Tax Return
     from the main menu.
  2. Select the
    Tax Calculation
     tab.
  3. Right-click in either box 1 or 2 and select
    Enable Editing
    from the context menu.
  4. Select
    Yes
    .
  5. Select the box, delete the existing figure and enter the calculated figure that HMRC expects.
  6. Select anywhere on the form outside of the box.

Solution 5: Submit a paper return if other exclusions apply

You can download the Exclusion cases document on HMRC's Self Assessment technical specifications (2022) webpage to check if your client is affected by an exclusion.
If your client is affected, we recommend you read the Association of Tax Technician's Online Exclusions – the position for 2017-18 guidance. This gives useful information, including how to make paper Returns after 31 October without incurring late submission penalties. Although it refers to 2017/18, much of the content remains applicable to later years.

Solution 6: check if remaining Personal Allowance is allocated against Life Assurance Gains

Where there’s insufficient earned income to set against the full Personal Allowance (PA), Personal, Business and Trust Tax may set all of the remaining PA against Life Assurance Gains (LAGs), instead of against savings income beforehand. This creates a greater restriction of notional tax against LAGs, due to the amount being covered by the PA.
Take the following steps to check if the error effects your client.
  1. Select
    Reports
    ,
    Computation
    , then
    Computation
     from the main menu.
  2. Select the
    Summary
     and
    Rate Band Analysis
     checkboxes.
  3. Select
    OK
    .
If there’s a
Restriction for Gains / PA & DED
 at the end of the summary and a figure in the Income row of the
Savings Rate Band Analysis
 schedule, but a deduction against LAGs instead of Savings in the PA & DED row, this is the likely cause of the error.
The difference will be 20% of the amount of savings against which the PA could have been set.
Workaround
You can follow the steps in our help topic: Offset Personal Allowance in Personal Tax to reallocate the Personal Allowance.

Solution 7: Change rounding of Top Slicing Relief or High Income Child Benefit Charge to match HMRC

Where there are a large number of Life Assurance Gains or there is a High Income Child Benefit Charge, the Top Slicing Relief or High Income Child Benefit Charge calculated by Personal, Business and Trust Tax may be different to HMRC's calculated figure. This is due to rounding. We calculate to the nearest penny, but HMRC calculates to the nearest pound.
There’s no workaround yet. Take the following steps if your client is affected.
  1. Select
    Form
    , then
    Edit Tax Return
    .
  2. Select
    Tax Calculation
    pages, then right-click in box 1 or 2 and select
    Enable Editing
     from the context menu.
  3. Change the
    CAL1/2 box
     on
    Form SA100
     to the HMRC calculated value. The changes will be saved when you close the form.

Solution 8: Change allocation of clogged losses and foreign losses to match HMRC allocation

As boxes CG7,CG19, CG27 and CG35 are the only boxes to include losses, they will include the total amount of clogged losses, foreign losses and ordinary losses. Personal, Business and Trust Tax correctly allocates only the relevant amount of clogged losses against clogged gains and foreign losses against unremitted foreign gains first, but HMRC picks up the figure(s) in these boxes and allocates the full loss against all gains.
Take the following steps if not all of the clogged or foreign losses can be utilised in the year.
  1. Select
    Edit
     then
    Schedule Editor
     from the main menu.
  2. Double-click
    Other Return Information
    .
  3. Select the
    Form Options
     tab.
  4. Enter the difference in tax in the
    Adjustment to CG tax
     box.
  5. Select
    OK
    , then
    Close.
This adjustment figure will be pulled into box CG51 and it should then be possible to file the Return online.

Solution 9: Enter the name of local authority for Blind Persons Allowance

When you claim Blind Persons Allowance, you must complete the date of registration and the name of the local authority. Without this, the relevant information will not appear on the Return and HMRC will not allocate Blind Persons Allowance in their computation.
  1. Select
    Edit
    , then
    Schedule Editor
     from the main menu.
  2. Double-click on
    Personal Allowances
    .
  3. Select the
    Other
     tab.
  4. Ensure that a name is entered in the
    Local Authority
     box.
  5. Select
    OK
    , then
    Close
    .

Solution 10: change the split year treatment calculation to match HMRC

Unlike HMRC, Personal, Business and Trust Tax does not apply excluded income rules in the tax computation when split-year treatment is claimed on the return, because this is in accordance with Extra Statutory Concession ESC-A11.
If you agree with HMRC's computation, take the following steps.
  1. Open the Return via
    Form
    , then
    Edit Tax Return
    .
  2. Select
    Tax Calculation
     pages, then right-click in box 1 or 2 and select
    Enable Editing
    .
  3. Change the
    CAL1/2 box
    on
    Form SA100
     to the lesser liability/refund. The changes will be saved when you close the form.
If you disagree with HMRC and believe the excluded income rules should not apply, you should make a paper Return with a view to challenging HMRC should they repair the liability.

Solution 11: check Net Relevant Earnings for pension contributions

If your client has paid contributions into Personal Pension Plans and/or Retirement Annuity Plans in the year, then you must ensure that there are enough Net Relevant Earnings in order to claim the relief.
In the
Employment/Self-employment/Partnership/FHL
 dialog box, mark the
Include in relevant UK earnings for pensions
 checkbox.

This article applies to:

  • Product: Digita Personal Business and Trust Tax