COM100050 - Penalties: late delivery of returns: extra statutory concessions last business day

COM100040 tells you that before 1 April 2011, Extra Statutory Concessions B45 and B46 provided that a late filing penalty was not charged if HMRC received a late return before the expiry of a short period after the statutory filing date (Word 42KB).

The `last business day' referred to in Extra Statutory Concession B46 meant that a paper return received in the office on a non-business day was treated, including date stamped, as if it was received on the next business day.

The table below sets out some examples. A paper return received on any of the days in the left hand column was treated, including date stamped, as if it was received on the day in the right hand column

Notes: 

• Working overtime on a non business day did not mean that you regarded that day as a business day
• The general rule applied to the individual national holidays of the different parts of the UK, as much as to the common holidays

For example, in Scotland

Tuesday 2 January is a Bank Holiday in Scotland.

In England, Wales and Northern Ireland returns received at an office on Monday 1 January were regarded as received on Tuesday 2 January because that was the next business day.

Note: The general rule applied also to any local holidays which HMRC shared with the local community. For example, the Glasgow offices are normally closed on the first Monday of the Glasgow Fair fortnight.

Exception:

There was an important exception to the general rule.

This was when you received a return on a day on which the office was closed but which was not a Saturday, Sunday, Bank Holiday or local public holiday.

The most likely such day was a Civil Service privilege holiday. When you received a return on a privilege holiday you treated it as having been received on that day and not on the next working day.

Management Responsibilities

Managers had to ensure that the arrangements described above were

• Understood by all staff, including Post Room staff, who handled CT returns

• Properly reflected in any arrangements for handling post that was

• • Put into Office letter boxes
  • Left at Enquiry Offices

• • Otherwise reached the office with responsibility for the case by an unusual route

It was implicit in the text of the concession that paper returns delivered on the last working day of the concessionary period had to arrive during working hours.

However, it was sufficient if the return arrived by the later of the times below, which varied on different days and in different offices

• The time when any local Tax Enquiry Office closed

• The time to which staff were actually working in the office