Jumat, 27 April 2012

HMRC says sorry after wrongly sending 12,000 penalty notices for failure to file tax returns

HMRC says sorry after wrongly sending 12,000 penalty notices for failure to file tax returns

By This Is Money

PUBLISHED: 09:16 EST, 27 April 2012 | UPDATED: 09:17 EST, 27 April 2012


Tax officials have apologised to nearly 12,000 people who were wrongly sent penalty notices for the non-filing of tax returns.

Those affected by the blunder had been previously told that they no longer had to complete a self-assessment form because their tax bill could be dealt with through the pay as you earn (PAYE) system.

HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) is sending out letters of apology today to those who wrongly received its penalty notices warning them of £10 daily fines for non-filing which start on Tuesday.

Taxing times: HMRC said the affected people had been recently removed from the self-assessment register.

Taxing times: HMRC said the affected people had been recently removed from the self-assessment register.

A Revenue spokesman reassured those who have wrongly received notices that they do not need to do anything.

He said: 'We are very sorry and can reassure these customers that we know who they are and that this letter is incorrect - they do not owe a penalty.

'We are writing to all of them to apologise and to explain this error.'

Those affected are among 130,000 people who have recently been removed from HMRC's self-assessment database, after the body asked people to get in touch if they felt they should no longer be included, for example, if they had moved from being self-employed to working for a firm.

The penalty letters explain that as well as a long-standing fixed penalty of £100 for late filing, fines of £10 a day will begin from Tuesday, up to a maximum of £900.

After six months, a further penalty of 5 per cent of the tax due or £300, whichever is greater, can be imposed, and after 12 months, another 5 per cent or £300 charge, whichever is more, can be added to the fines.

These fines will be faced by anyone who should have completed a self-assessment form but has failed to do so, even if they do not owe any tax.

The HMRC spokesman said of those who were wrongly sent the notices: 'We can reassure these customers that they have been removed from self-assessment. It is very unfortunate that this process error has taken the shine off the good news that we have taken 130,000 people out of self-assessment.'

The error follows another apology from HMRC last month after around a million letters containing potentially confusing information about child tax credits were sent out.

The letters said the maximum household income for a family to be eligible for the benefit would be £26,000 from this month, a figure which is broadly correct for those with one child but rises for those with more.

Fears were raised that the £26,000 figure could mislead some families and put off genuine claimants.

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HMRC need to look at their own efficiency in replying to tax payers before issuing fines . They are impossible to contact by phone- you are left hanging on at premium costs listening to stupid menus and total failure in replying to any mail correspondence.

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Why is this Blood Sucking Leeches on Society Department not answerable to Anybody when they fail in their well paid / Pension paradise.

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