Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of (a) cancelling or (b) refunding penalties for late tax returns when there is no tax due to be paid on taxpayers.

HMRC issues self assessment tax returns to customers when the information they hold suggests that the customer meets the published criteria for completing one. HMRC often cannot determine someone’s tax liability until they have sent in a tax return, therefore they need the return to establish whether there is tax due or not.

HMRC charges late final penalties to encourage customers to file on time but they can cancel a customer’s late filing penalty if they have a reasonable excuse. Customers can also ask HMRC to remove them from the SA process for future years if they no longer meet the criteria.

HMRC is currently reforming late payment and late filing penalties. The aim is to encourage those who persistently default to comply with their tax obligations rather than penalise those who make occasional errors.