CCM14440 - Closing the Enquiry: Formal proceedings

HMRC’s preferred method of settlement in a case involving a penalty is a letter of offer. You must therefore always follow the guidance at CCM14200 onwards but sometimes despite your best efforts it will not be possible to obtain a letter of offer and you will have reached the stage described at CCM14360 or CCM14370.

Where a claimant will not make an offer, we will consider issuing a formal penalty determination. Such a determination can only be made with the approval of the Claimant Compliance SO Policy and Standards Manager. If you and your manager believe a penalty should be imposed, you must submit your papers to the Claimant Compliance SO Policy and Standards Manager but you must ensure you have reached the stage described at CCM14360 or CCM14370.

You should obtain a copy of the incorrect claim form/declaration for all submissions.

Where there is no continuing award and you have previously used Make Remission to remit all or part of the overpayment in the expectation of a letter of offer, you must cancel this remission before making your submission.

Your submission must include a copy of the incorrect claim form/declaration and be in the layout described at CCM14400 but item (g) will need to reflect the offer which you consider is appropriate, and item (i) would be a recommendation that a formal penalty determination is issued. If the penalty is in respect of a joint claim you will need to split the total amount between the claimants so that a penalty determination can be issued to each individually. You will need to decide how to split the penalty. For instance if you consider that the claimants are equally negligent then you would split the penalty between them, so a £250 penalty would be split £125 each. If you decide they are not equally negligent make sure you have explained your reasons to the claimants. Your submission must be passed to your Claimant Compliance Centre Manager (CCCM) who will need to ensure that everything is in order before passing the papers on to the Claimant Compliance Group Manager (CCGM). If the CCGM is content he/she will forward the papers to the Claimant Compliance SO Policy and Standards Manager.The Claimant Compliance SO Policy and Standards Manager will advise you what action to take regarding the penalty.