Tea and Sympathy

INCORRECT PENALTY NOTICES issued by the Inland Revenue have been the subject of recent comment in the press (see for example The Sunday Times 30 May 2004 at page 6). These notices have been for the supposed late submission of tax returns for the year ended 5 April 2003 but it seems that they have been issued in respect of returns that were actually received by the Revenue in the two-week period leading up to the filing deadline of 31 January 2004. The Inland Revenue says that it does not have an exact figure but admits that 'a small number' may have been issued in error. The exact reasons for this seem a little unclear but in the absence of conclusive evidence that there has been a 'system error' ('none whatsoever' and the system works 'perfectly well' says the Revenue) it appears that...