5/30/13

Appeal against Self Assessment penalties and tax bills - GOV.UK

Appeal against Self Assessment penalties and tax bills from GOV.UK
Part 1 Appeal against a penalty
You m ay be charged a penalty (https://www.gov.uk/self-assessment-tax-returns/penalties) if, for exam ple, youve m issed the tax return or paym ent deadline. You can appeal against the penalty if youve got a reasonable excuse for being late.

What may be a reasonable excuse

A reasonable excuse is som ething unexpected or unusual and outside your control that prevented you from sending your tax return or paym ent on tim e, like: your partner died shortly before the tax return or paym ent deadline you had a serious or life-threatening illness (eg a heart attack) that prevented you from dealing with your tax affairs you lost im portant docum ents in a fire that couldnt be replaced in tim e to com plete your tax return postal delays that you couldnt have predicted you registered for the HM Revenue & Custom s (HMRC (Her Majesty's Revenue & Custom s)) online service before the tax return deadline but didnt get your activation code or user ID in tim e

Whats unlikely to be a reasonable excuse

The following arent usually accepted as a reasonable excuse: you relied on som eone else to send your return and they didnt your cheque bounced or paym ent failed because you didnt have enough m oney you didnt get a rem inder from HMRC (Her Majesty's Revenue & Custom s) you registered for the HMRC (Her Majesty's Revenue & Custom s) online service after the tax return deadline

How to appeal
You can fill in an appeal form (http://search2.hmrc.gov.uk/kb5/hmrc/forms/view.page? record=3ScvEs7_4vk&formId=6706) explaining the problem as soon as you know your return or paym ent are late. If HMRC (Her Majesty's Revenue & Custom s) sends you a penalty letter, you can use the appeal form that com es with it.

Only the nom inated partner can appeal against penalties for sending partnership tax returns late.

Deadlines
https://www.gov.uk/self-assessment-appeals/appeal-against-a-penalty 1/2

5/30/13

Appeal against Self Assessment penalties and tax bills - GOV.UK

You m ust appeal within 30 days of the date on a penalty letter from HMRC (Her Majesty's Revenue & Custom s).

If you appeal later, HMRC (Her Majesty's Revenue & Custom s) will look at the inform ation you give them and decide if they will consider your appeal.

Last updated: 4 April 2013

Crown Copyright

https://www.gov.uk/self-assessment-appeals/appeal-against-a-penalty

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