Taxpayers urged to act promptly with late filing penalty appeals

The Low Income Tax Reform Group (LITRG) is calling on UK taxpayers who have received an automatic £100 late filing penalty for failing to submit their 2015/16 self-assessment tax return in time to appeal immediately if they have a ‘reasonable excuse’.

The charity states that taxpayers should not be resigned to accepting the penalty and must at least attempt to appeal the fine before settling up with HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) about the tax they owe.

A spokesman for the LITRG said: “Flooding or severe weather problems, but also life events such as serious illness or bereavement, and other causes beyond the taxpayer’s control [are reasonable excuses that HMRC generally accepts].

“It is important that even if a reasonable excuse is established, the taxpayer files without unreasonable delays once the excuse has ceased.

“For example, if illness prevented them from filing on time, they must file as soon as reasonably practicable when they recover from their illness.”

Those who have already received a penalty notice may have already received an appeal notice from HMRC, but if not, the appeal paperwork can also be downloaded from GOV.UK.

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Date published 15 Feb 2017 | Last updated 15 Feb 2017