EM4572 - Penalties: Failure to Make a Return for SA Years: Daily Penalties - Amount

TMA70/S93

Penalties under Schedule 55 FA09 for failure to file on time, see CH60000+, apply to income tax and capital gains tax returns for the year ended 5 April 2011 and later years. The returns for the year ended 5 April 2011 are those due to be filed on or before 31 October 2011, or 31 January 2012 if filed electronically.

This page is concerned principally with individual SA returns for the year ended 5 April 2010 and earlier, and S93. For partnership returns and S93A see also EM4585.

The statute provides for a penalty of up to £60 per day for each day on which the failure continues after the day on which the taxpayer receives notice of the tribunal’s direction (see EM4570).

These penalties are determined under TMA70/S100 by the authorised officer, EM5320+ not by the tribunal.

In arriving at the appropriate amount, take into account

• the general background to the case
• the length of the delays
• the likely amount of duty at stake
• the taxpayer’s attitude and co-operation to date, and
• whether the taxpayer is an habitual defaulter.

Generally speaking we would expect most daily penalties to fall in the middle of the range, with the higher amounts being reserved for the most serious cases where potentially very large amounts of duty are at stake, or where there is perhaps a danger that assets will be removed from the UK.

Normally penalties would be imposed for each day

• from the day following that on which the taxpayer receives notice of the tribunal’s direction (the SA517/SA520)
• to the day before the S100 penalty determination notice is issued.

We would not expect this period to exceed 30 days. If however the authorised officer is faced with a case of a long interval and needs to constrain the total amount charged to avoid a disproportionate figure, they should determine an appropriate daily amount for a reduced number of days and follow the latter part of EM4575.