Howzat – Appealing against an HMRC penalty
When I started in the tax world, I read an article many years ago that stated that more than half of HMRC penalties are overturned on appeal.
I’ve always thought that with such odds, it’s worth a punt to appeal an HMRC penalty on behalf of any of my customers with a reasonable excuse for filing their tax return late or making a late payment.
In cricket, the appeal often exclaimed as “Howzat,” is a request by the fielding team to the umpire to decide whether a batter is out.
According to Law 31 of the Cricket Laws, an umpire cannot give a batter out without an appeal. Sometimes, a dismissal goes unnoticed by the fielding team, and the batter remains not out without an appeal. Appeals must be made before the bowler starts their run-up for the next ball.
I always think that appealing HMRC penalties is similar to a game of cricket.
- You have to know the rules of the game
- You have to make your appeal heard
- You have to appeal within the time limit
- You have to remember that not all appeals are successful
I pride myself on making successful appeals to HMRC. I think I have had a 100% success rate over many years. Maybe I should have kept a running record of my successes.
Today, I’m writing to HMRC on behalf of a customer who has paid £280 in penalties for paying her taxes two days late. This is unfair, in my opinion.
I know my customer suffered from high stress when the tax payments were due, but before the stress, she was paying her taxes on time and filing her return on time.
Remember, people in the HMRC appeals team are human, too. HMRC’s job is to collect taxes and encourage compliant taxpayers to pay their taxes on time, not to issue penalties and make taxpayers fear them.
I believe HMRC will recognise the stress she encountered. Considering her consistent track record of timely tax payments, they should agree to waive her penalties once they review my appeal.
I’ll share an update when I get a reply, most likely in 6 months, given HMRC’s speed of response.
Here goes, HOWZAT!