The UK tax authority HMRC announced on 17 June 2015 that it has issued the first in-year PAYE penalty notices to employers of fewer than fifty employees who did not send PAYE details to HMRC on time. HMRC is concentrating on the more serious defaults on a risk-assessment basis and is not issuing late filing penalties automatically. This proportionate approach is in line with HMRC’s approach generally as described in a recent discussion document.
The late reporting penalties also apply to employers with more than fifty employees. The risk based assessment policy applies in the case of information that was due by 6 March 2015 for employers with fewer than fifty employees and by 6 January 2015 for employers with more than fifty employees. Penalties will continue to be applied on a risk assessment basis for 2015 and 2016.
HMRC recently announced that it will not penalize minor delays of up to three days. By using risk assessment HMRC can concentrate its resources on serious compliance failures and can proceed with a policy of educating employers on their filing obligations using communications, webinars and articles in the Employer Bulletin.
Employers can submit appeals electronically through the Penalties and Appeals System (PAS) available on HMRC Online. Those employers who received a later filing penalty notice for tax year 2014/15 but filed within three days of the deadline can submit an appeal.
