| Businesses are reminded
that a seven-day grace period for late
employers’ and contractors’ returns will
cease from 31 March 2011. HM Revenue &
Customs (HMRC) has announced that the
Extra Statutory Concession B46 (ESC B46)
would be scrapped next March.
Introduced in 1995, ESC B46 established
the principle that penalties would not be
charged when employers and contractors
submitting tax returns and CIS
(Construction Industry Scheme) forms had
taken “all reasonable steps” to file their
returns on time, but were not able to do
so due to unforeseen circumstances such as
postal delays.
With the advent of online filing, which
is required for P35s and P14s and will
become mandatory for Corporation Tax
returns from 1 April, HMRC considers the
concession redundant because the delays it
was intended to address will no longer
happen. Returns must therefore reach the
department by their due date or incur a
late filing penalty of £100.
Confirming the new penalty regime, HMRC
said: “Any customers filing a return late
will, as now, be able to request us to
remove any penalty, if they believe they
had a reasonable excuse for the delay in
filing. We will consider every case on its
own merits. Customers can also appeal
against the penalty to a tribunal.”
LINK:
HMRC briefing |
