ECH21135 - Penalties: Formal Action

The majority of cases are settled by agreeing a contract settlement to cover tax, NICs, interest and penalties. Where it is not possible or appropriate to settle with a contract you will need to switch to the formal route ( ECH21136 onwards).

Penalties are ‘determined’ in a manner rather like raising a Regulation 80 determination. The procedure for authorising/determining penalties will depend on the type of penalty being sought.

The attached table shows the main penalty offences for which you may need to consider taking formal action.

The table is not exhaustive. If you propose to seek a formal penalty determination for any other type of penalty offence, for example student loans, you may seek advice from TAA (Liverpool) (This text has been withheld because of exemptions in the Freedom of Information Act 2000)before proceeding.

In all instances the employer/contractor can appeal against the penalty ( ECH21260). Any appeal will be heard by the Commissioners (except where the penalty was determined by the Commissioners themselves) and where there is a related appeal against a decision, determination or assessment all appeals should be heard at the same time. Once the penalty has been determined by the Commissioners any appeal would be taken to the High Court.