Establishing payment dates

Self-assessment tax paid late

The taxpayer submitted his 2013/14 tax return online on 30 January 2015. The calcuation showed tax was payable but when he ‘logged back again to check if the tax was due immediately he was presented with the message ‘You have nothing to pay’. He assumed this meant the tax was not due straightaway and logged out.

In February 2015 HMRC sent the taxpayer a reminder about the outstanding tax. He paid it a month later but because the payment was more than 30 days after the due date – 31 January – HMRC charged a penalty and interest.

The taxpayer appealed. He said he had paid late because of the ‘erroneous message’ on HMRC’s website. He had ‘made every reasonable effort’ to check whether he needed to pay the tax and did so as soon as he received the reminder.

HMRC agreed...