PAYE95020 - Taxpayer end of year: HMRC delay: ESC A19: important points to bear in mind

Relief under ESC A19 is not the same as financial redress that we may pay under C/FS: ‘Complaints and putting things right’ as compensation for HMRC mistakes and delays. You should consider any claim for redress as a separate matter, whether or not ESC A19 applies. Guidance can be obtained from:

• the Redress guidance
• your local Complaints teams

or

• Central Complaints Advice and Support Team.

Remember that ESC A19 is a concession, not a statutory right. There is no right of appeal against our refusal to grant it, but a taxpayer can ask for the matter to be reviewed under our normal complaints procedure PAYE95090.

A taxpayer that remains dissatisfied can apply to the Adjudicator or, through a Member of Parliament, to the Parliamentary Ombudsman. They will check that we have applied our internal instructions on the application of ESC A19 fairly and consistently.

Tax that is legally due should not be given up lightly. It is important that you consider carefully each case if you think ESC A19 applies, using a logical, step by step approach PAYE95025.

If more than one year is involved, apply the tests at PAYE95025 to each year separately.

Exceptionally, if you receive a request for repayment of tax on the grounds that ESC A19 should have been granted but was not, please refer the case to PSN PAYE Technical, Shipley before any other action is taken.

(This text has been withheld because of exemptions in the Freedom of Information Act 2000)