Unfair penalty

The taxpayer company believed it had filed its end-of-year employer return form P35 in time for the 19 May deadline.

It was not until the firm received a late-filing penalty for £500 in September that it realised there must have been a problem with the return.

The taxpayer then filed the document on 14 October and appealed against the penalty on the ground it should be reduced to £100.

The First-tier Tribunal found the company had logged on to HMRC’s system in April to file its P35 but it did not submit the form probably as a result of human error.

Turning to the Revenue’s delay in advising the taxpayer of the fine the tribunal judge did not accept it was reasonable for the department to wait five months before issuing the notices. He said:

“It seems to the tribunal reasonable to contend from the tenor of...