Incorrect penalty

Penalty for inaccuracies in return and potential lost revenue

‘Well here we go again’ the judge told a tax tribunal in which HMRC’s approach to FA 2007 Sch 24 ‘penalties for errors’ was severely criticised.

The case concerned a paediatric heart surgeon who appealed against a penalty for two alleged careless inaccuracies in her 2009-10 tax return. Her only source of income was her NHS salary which was subject to PAYE.

In August 2012 she was working in Australia when she received an urgent phone call from HMRC telling her she owed tax of £100 000 and that the department was seeking an attachment of earnings order.

The taxpayer appointed an accounting firm in Liverpool to assist her. She had no records such as P60s in Australia and wrote to all her previous employers for pay and tax details and told her accountant about her fees to...