In September I received a Late Filing Penalty for 15/16 of £100 from HRMC, prior to this I had received no correspondence from them. I rang them up to explain I had received no prior correspondence from them at all.

I was told the reason why I received the Late Filing Penalty for 15/16 of £100 was because I had under paid £190 tax in 15/16. I explained I was not self employed and normally procedure is for HRMC to deduct any underpaid tax from your wage automatically.

I explained I was not self employed, but working for a company, so why was I fined £100 for not completing a self tax assessment form, because that's for people who are self employed and I was not.

Having explained to the advisor I had received no prior correspondence to the £100 fine, I was told normal procedure is for HMRC to deduct under paid tax from your wage, but the computer system automatically sent the £100 late filing penalty charge because the underpaid tax had not been paid in time.

Again I explained I received no prior correspondence from them, the advisor aologised, telling me to pay the £100 fine, she would then send a self assessment tax form for 15/16 out to me - I was to complete this and send it back and then I could appeal the £100 fine.

I asked how much I had to pay, was told £190 underpaid tax, so I waited for the self assessment tax form for 15/16 to arrive. This arrived about 2-3 weeks later.

A few days later, I received another letter from HRMC telling me I had not sent the self assessment (which had arrived and I was in process of completing) and now I had over £300 to pay.

I quickly completed the self tax assessment form, sent it back recorded delivery and after xmas, I received a letter thanking me for sending back the self assessment form but I had to pay £520 because for sending it back late!!

Now, how can I appeal

1. The £100 filing late charge

2. The £420 charge

I only want to pay the £190 original under paid tax, which HRMC should have automatically deducted form my weekly wage in the first place and the HMRC advisor told me the HRMC computer system sent the late filing penalty automatically and it should not have been sent in the first place.

Please need the more experienced guys help me appeal this asap

Sent back the 15/16 self tax assessment form,

Correction...I received the letter on the 18th December thanking me for sending back the self assessment form for 15/16 and to pay £520 penalty which includes the original £190 underpaid tax.

I have to quickly get the appeal sent, otherwise HMRC will increase the penalty.

SA isnt as simple as self-employed/employed.

Have a look at this link and see if you fall into any of the categories.

https://www.gov.uk/self-assessment-tax-returns/who-must-send-a-tax-return

Remember, it is the individual’s responsibility to register for SA.

Were you actually liable for SA in that tax year?

Like I explained above.

..I am not liable for Self Assessment,

I explained this to HRMC and quetioned why they put me on Self Assessment..

..their reply was I did not send pay the £190 on time

(I told them, it normally gets deducted automatically)

they said the computer system put me on Self Assessment because of the £190 not being paid.

..can you help me appeal it

Hello there.

So did you have a letter from HMRC asking you to complete a tax return for 2015-16?

HB

Thread moved to the HMRC section.

Lillywhites, I've sent and SOS to another team member to try and get you some more help.

HB

Hi LW,

You should make an appeal against the penalty NOW and this should stop any further increase.

1. What type of work do you do.

2. Did you only work for 1 employer during y/e 5/4/16, or more than 1.

3. Do you know of any reason you may have underpaid tax in that year.

Thanks

get your MP involved, ask them to take it up with the relevant minister. This is not uncommon and shouldnt happen as HMRC have live tax reporting with just about every employer in the country.

As explained in my original post, I received no prior correspondence from HRMC, the first correspondece I received was the £100 penalty fine.

I explained to HMRC I had not received any letter prior to the £100 penalty

Hello there.

 

So did you have a letter from HMRC asking you to complete a tax return for 2015-16?

 

HB

Hi Slick132,

I do agency work, so its temp throughout 15/16, HRMC said the computer system automatically out me on self assessment because I did not pay the original £190 under paid tax, which I can't understand, because I've been working 15/16 through an agency and been paying tax through my wage. I worked for more than 1 employer because the work is temp agency work, so when one job finished, I looked to find other work through an agency.

No idea why HRMC say I underpaid tax?

Can you help me NOW write a letter please, so I can get it sent asap

Thanks

Hi LW,

 

You should make an appeal against the penalty NOW and this should stop any further increase.

 

1. What type of work do you do.

 

2. Did you only work for 1 employer during y/e 5/4/16, or more than 1.

 

3. Do you know of any reason you may have underpaid tax in that year.

 

Thanks

I need to get appeal letter sorted asap before anything else, plus my MP is useless

get your MP involved, ask them to take it up with the relevant minister. This is not uncommon and shouldnt happen as HMRC have live tax reporting with just about every employer in the country.

Hi LW,

IMHO it's too early to involve an MP - you need to try to sort this in the right manner first.

HMRC's system would NOT put you on SA just because you failed to pay £190, regardless of what you were told or you understood. Self Assessment has little to do with you being an employee or self employed and many factors go into whether you need to file a SA form. So you're wrong to say you're an employee and therefore not liable to file an SA tax return.

There are many reasons you would be classed as a SA taxpayer. In your case, it may be because you worked for several or many employers or agencies through the tax year. This can easily lead to tax underpayments, particularly if you were working for more than 1 agency or employer at any given time.

First off, write to the office that sent you £100 penalty fee and use your UTR as the reference :-

Dear sir and madam,

I refer to the penalties (£520) and underpaid tax (£190) I've been told to pay for 2015/16. I hereby appeal the late filing fee and the tax allegedly underpaid.

I have no idea how a tax underpayment arose as I was under PAYE through the year.

I never received a tax return to complete and am not even sure I NEED to file a self assessment tax return in my circumstances. This is why I appeal the late filing fee and subsequent increased penalties.

When I received the late filing penalty, I called to see what was wrong and required of me. I was sent a SA return but before I could complete and return it, I have received further demands for higher penalty fees.

Until this matter is resolved, please stop making any further demands for tax and penalties.

Please also send me a statement for 2015/16 showing how much tax was underpaid and why.

Yours faithfully,

Get a free Cert of Posting at the PO why you send this.

If working for multiple agencies at the same time then underpayment of tax is easy even if you think your paye.

One agency applies the tax free amount your allows to earn and the other deducts tax on total income.

Agencys tell you that if you work for multiple agencies at the same time you must tell them, or self assess or you may be liable to tax at the end of the year

Hi LW,

Add a final para to the letter above if you've not yet posted it off.

Due to the stress the increasing demands are causing me, please reply to, or at least acknowledge, this letter within 14 days.

The reality is that you'll get no reply or acknowledgement for a month or two. But aftyer 14 days, you should send a reminder.