Too late to appeal

The taxpayer organisation did not submit a 2010/11 P35. HMRC issued a penalty of £800 in February 2012 and further fines in May and September.

A penalty of £400 for non-submission of the 2011/12 P35 was also imposed. The taxpayer did not appeal within the specified period but applied for permission to make a late appeal.

The First-tier Tribunal dismissed as unreasonable the taxpayer’s excuse that it had a backlog of post saying “This might excuse a few days delay but not three to six months”.

It was irrelevant that the taxpayer’s two members of staff were both part-time and paid below the PAYE threshold; part 73(1) of the Income Tax (PAYE) Regulations demanded that a P35 be submitted by employers before 20 May following the end of a tax year.

The fines under TMA 1970 s 98A gave no reduction for employers whose employees...