Settlement Letters Arriving soon ?

[Jumper]

Can’t remember or find exactly when I made the amend but I did receive 2 penalties, one of the standard £100 and the other was another 6 months penalty.

The penalty was a bit of a sham, I just received a notice of the penalty. HMRC didn’t follow process, didn’t request evidence or ask for a statement or send notification of potential penalty, it was just sent stating inaccuracies and carelessness and they’d assessed my cooperation levels, etc and arrived at a 30% penalty. Another colleague who didn’t disclosure and subsequently received determinations (Reg 80s I think) received 15% in penalties and entered into a repayment arrangement.

I’d already disclosed and paid the loan charge prior to my penalty notification which came years later out of the blue. I’m wondering whether they sent it to encourage settlement. I paid the loan charge in late 2020 but years and years dragged on as they continued to perform calculations suggesting I owed more, claiming Employers NICs and then adding penalties. The liability went up and up and I refused to settle.

Thankfully the McCann review arose whilst I had a settlement contract in front of me. I could have signed it and just got closure but decided not to and here I am today.

[woody1]

I reckon you stand a chance of getting the 30% reduced on appeal, although you might have to go to tribunal, and you'll need to explain why you didn't include the loans on your original 18/19 return.

[Jumper]

I’m not expecting to have to appeal or go to tribunal at all for penalties. Under the new settlement terms, all penalties are to be removed unless it relates to deliberate concealment or fraud.

They’ve already arrived at the conclusion that I should be penalised for inaccuracies/carelessness, deliberate concealment is a much higher bar and they’d have to evidence this. Given I’ve disclosed all my loans and correctly, along with cooperating and paying the loan charge which I did off my own accord, I find it extremely unlikely a penalty would be included in a revised settlement.

[woody1]

BTW, if you keep hitting a brick wall obtaining a settlement from HMRC, or you don't think they're treating you fairly (penalties etc), you could ask your local MP to intervene on your behalf. A representation from an MP often gets things moving in HMRC.

If your MP is a member of the APPG then they may already be up to speed on the loan charge and McCann review & settlement.

https://www.loanchargeappg.co.uk/members

[Jumper]

Thanks, I have contemplated contacting my local MP, they are a member of the APPG. Will wait and see what the next settlement offer looks like and whether it’s fair and reasonable.