Self assessment penalty - !!!!!!?

jonewer

OK, so got home today and found a letter from HMRC informing the wife that she has a £300 fine for a 12 month old self-assessment tax return.

Only this is the first time either of us have ever heard from HMRC. She has never been asked to fill in a tax return and never had any other form of correspondence - warnings, requests, lesser fines - just straight in at the max!

I think its pretty outrageous, given the sweetheart deals that let companies like Vodafone avoid paying huge sums of tax, yet HMRC picks on the little people who are just trying to earn a living and pay their way.

Absolutely livid.

Is there anything she/we can do?

agrinnall

First thing to do is calm down, there's no point in trying to do anything about it while you are raging.

Your wife needs to contact the tax office (I imagine there will be a number on the letter), explain that no request to complete a return was ever received, and ask why they think one was issued in the first place. Once you have a bit more information then you can post back here again to ask if the penalty can be challenged.

chrismac1

It can be challenged. In the past it was standard practice on PAYE, for example, for HMRC to wait 4 months, then fine the employer £400 in September for non-submission.

Had they warned the employer in May there would have been a £100 fine. Well in 2012 these £400 fines started getting thrown out wholesale by Tribunals, likewise some hefty fines in other tax areas were also thrown out.

On PAYE HMRC agreed nationally that for the latest tax year end there was not going to be any "let's start at £400" funny business. In your case, unless they back down voluntarily - a pig has just flown past my window - ask to see the evidence that they started at £100.

Then appeal, appeal and appeal some mare. Make sure you get something in the post - clearly worded APPEAL - within the 30 day window. You get thirty days, they can take 30 weeks to get back to you if it suits them.

John_Pierpoint

To you that is a personal £300 being pick pocketed from you wallet.
In reality it is one sheet of paper removed from a printing machine by a forklift truck.
I might be exaggerating slightly when it comes to penalties, but you get my drift.

Gas_Powered_Toothbrush

chrismac1 wrote: »

they can take 30 weeks to get back to you if it suits them.

Can you link me to the HMRC manual / guidance that confirms this?

chrismac1

From HMRC website:

"Should a taxpayer write to us on a difficult matter, it is standard procedure to file this in the "too difficult" pile. This pile is investigated in depth when Lin Homer sees a werewolf barking at the moon. Meantime we reserve the right to carry on fining and harrassing the hapless victim at every opportunity."

Gas_Powered_Toothbrush

The lack of an actual link leads me to believe you're making it up. As usual.

chrismac1

Seriously, if you go to any site where accountants hang out - sad places, perhaps! - one of the commonest gripes from just about every poster is the sheer length of time it takes HMRC to reply to the simplest of letters.

Two years ago I went to a Tribunal after going through 6 levels of HMRC appeal.

Total time the HMRC letters were with me getting replied to = 2.5 weeks.

Total time my 6 letters were with HMRC = 13.5 MONTHS.

I am not making this up. Needless to say HMRC lost the case, they were arguing that the sudden death of my client's previous accountant was not a reasonable excuse for failing to file end of year payroll on time.

You can't make this stuff up!

toonbaz

Phone them up, tell them you disagree wth the issue of a return, they will run through a list of questions, if none apply and there is no reason for her to file a return for that particular year they will close the record down and cancel the penalties