Tax penalties reach record high in 2022-23

The value of tax penalties has increased by 25% to £851m between November 2022 and October 2023 up from £681m November 2021 and October 2022. Accountancy firm UHY Hacker Young notes that this value has risen consistently over the past three years.

Many of these fines are hitting businesses that are experiencing financial stress and struggling to pay on time. Others are being triggered due to simple errors in paperwork. David Jones tax director at UHY Ross Brooke said: ‘A pattern over recent years has been HMRC’s aggressive view of what constitutes “deliberate behaviour” and their stubbornness around that issue. Of course once characterised as deliberate behaviour the penalty tariff rockets and that could be reflected in the high penalty figures. However the recent case P Gopaul suggests the courts are waking up to this – but you must...