Misleading information from HMRC

I have written previously about a case which I first heard about from the Readers’ forum and have since written about it myself – see ‘Trust in the balance’ (Taxation 6 May 2021 page 20) and ‘Unbalanced’ (Taxation 26 January 2023 page 10). At the heart of the case was the fact that HMRC issued a taxpayer with a late payment penalty of £125 and an interest charge of about £27. The ‘late’ paid tax related to the self-assessment balancing payment of £2 500 considered to have been due on 31 January 2020.

The taxpayer’s argument was that the tax should have been coded out by HMRC and collected through the PAYE system during the 2020-21 tax year. After the taxpayer’s accountant made repeated references to the PAYE rules and guidance latterly with my assistance all to no avail the taxpayer’s appeal against...