PAYE: 2005-06 Penalties

From 21 May 2007 we are sending a further penalty notice for outstanding 2005-06 Employer Annual Returns and Contractor Returns. We have not issued penalties to employers who have appealed against the first 2005-06 penalties, sent in March.

The timing of this further penalty is in line with when we would normally send a penalty when an outstanding return is 12 months late. We are aware though, that we did not follow this timetable for 2004-05 Returns.

We are asking employers to send their Return as soon as possible, or to tell us if the Return is not due (for example, they had no employees during 2005-06). We will discharge the penalty if a Return was not due.

The minimum penalty is £100 for every month the Return is late and will take account of anything charged on the first penalty notice, sent in March. This is a provisional penalty. We can only work out the actual penalty when we have your Return.

Employers can appeal against these further notices if they think their penalty is wrong. Appeals must be sent in writing to their HMRC office within 30 days of the date on the letter, explaining why they think the penalty is not due.