If you keep up to date with accountancy news, you may be
aware of the rumours that HMRC have been waiving the £100 late self-assessment
fine that is usually imposed by HM Revenue & Customs, if the filer has a
“reasonable excuse”.
HMRC staff were asked to waive the £100 fine if people with
mitigating circumstances appealed after paying up – this was all reported in an
internal memo allegedly leaked to the Daily
Telegraph.
It is estimated that up to 890,000 people could have
potentially benefitted from the amnesty for missing the 31 January deadline as
HMRC deals with a backlog of nearly a million letters from British taxpayers.
HMRC said it was trying to focus its resources on tackling
major tax avoidance instead of "penalising people for trying to do the
right thing".
However, previously, people who appealed the fine faced a
two- or maybe even three-week investigation of their tax affairs before a
decision was reached.
Leaked HMRC memo
The HMRC memo questioned the "lengthy" process,
especially given that the "overwhelming majority of appeals" were actually
accepted.
The alleged leaked document stated;
"Our penalty regime is intended
to influence customer behaviour, but also be clear and cost effective, fair and
proportionate.
"The current way of managing penalties does not meet
these objectives, and so we have decided to take a more proportionate approach
where a customer has filed their return late, and then appealed against their
penalty.
"This means that in the vast majority of cases we will
be accepting the customer's grounds for appeal, and we can cancel the
penalty."
So, have HMRC really waived the £100 fine for late self-assessment filing?
It may be a hunch, but perhaps the recent act of goodwill
could be something to do with a backlog of paperwork and the need for a less
complicated appeals system?
In any event, don’t risk filing your self-assessment late -
a spokesman for HMRC did add that despite the policy, nobody will be getting
off the hook unless they've now sent in their return and "have a good reason for sending it in late".
Don’t take a chance – particularly when affordable help is
at hand from Omni Chartered Accountants. Click here
to contact us now, request a free of charge call-back from our website http://www.taxandaccountancysolutions.co.uk or take our Accountancy
Savings Challenge today!
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