Penalties

12.1 End of year penalties: failure to file online

You will face a penalty of up to £3,000 if you send us your Employer Annual Return (or part of your Return) on paper or magnetic media when you should be filing online.

The penalty still applies even if you try to put things right by filing your Return again online. This is because the first Return, or part of it, was not filed the right way in the first place.

The penalty will apply regardless of when you file your Return.

You must send your whole Return online when the law says you must, and it must meet our Quality Standard.

Remember that:

• if you are a large employer (250 or more employees) you must file online
• if you are a medium-sized employer (50 - 249 employees) you must file online starting from 2005-06
• if you are a small employer (fewer than 50 employees) you do not have to file online until at least 2010, but you can get tax-free payments over five years for filing online early.

The penalty depends on the number of P14s that should be included in your Return.

Number of employees for whom P14s should have been in your return	Amount of penalty for 2005-06 to 2008-09 £
1 – 49	0
50 – 249	600
250 – 399	900
400 - 499	1,200
500 – 599	1,500
600 - 699	1,800
700 - 799	2,100
800 - 899	2,400
900 - 999	2,700
1,000 or more	3,000