HMRC penalties reform faces further hold-up

Reforms to HMRC’s penalty regimes are to be delayed again. The announcement was made in the Overview of Tax Legislation and Rates (OOTLAR) published in October alongside the Budget. The delay applies to reform of the regimes for both late submission of tax returns and late payment of taxes.

HMRC said the extra time would allow the department to consider further the communications needed for successful implementation. The government has said it remains committed to the reform and intends to legislate in a future Finance Bill.

However the CIOT has expressed its disappointment by the news. CIOT tax policy director John Cullinane said: ‘We are broadly supportive of these reforms to HMRC’s penalties regimes so we are disappointed by this further delay [although] we acknowledge that it is more important to do it right than to do it quickly. The new penalty regimes for late payments of tax...