Penalties for late filing of returns and late payment of tax checks
Legislation will be introduced in Finance Bill 2009 to reform penalty regimes for late filing of tax returns and late payment of tax in relation to certain taxes including SDLT and SDRT. The new regimes will treat late payment and late filed returns separately. A right of appeal against all penalty decisions will be available on the basis of reasonable excuse.
These changes have been subject to a recent consultation with a view to providing a modern framework of law and practice across tax for HMRC.
Implementation of the new provisions is to be staged over a number of years from April 2010 and will be brought into effect by Treasury Orders.
The changes relate to the basic obligations of filing returns and paying tax on time and seem fair and reasonable from the responses to the consultation.
