2019/2020 Late filing penalties: HMRC to allow bulk appeals

Late filing penalties will soon be issued for the 1.1 million taxpayers who failed to file their returns by 28 February 2021. It is understood that HMRC are planning on allowing bulk appeals, where the reasonable excuse is COVID-19.

• Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, late filing penalties for the 2019/2020 Self Assessment tax return were waived until 28 February 2021.
• 1.1 million taxpayers still failed to file their return by this extended deadline.
• A late filing penalty of £100 will be issued.
• If there are grounds for appeal, appeals must be submitted within three months (currently extended from the usual 30 days).

HMRC anticipates that the late filing penalties will be received between 17 and 24 March 2021. From this point, authorised agents will be able to file bulk appeals against these penalties.

• All of the appeals must be relying on Reasonable excuse of Covid-19.
• There will be a new paper template to complete (other reasonable excuse appeals can be submitted online).
• An agent will be able to submit appeals for up to 25 clients on the one form. One form only per envelope. If filing appeals for more than 25 clients, a second form should be used and sent in a separate envelope.
• All fields on the form must be completed or the appeal will not be processed.
• Appeals for the High Net Worth Unit should be file din the normal way.
• The service will remain open until September 2021.

There is a new address for the bulk claims:

Bulk Agent Appeals
HM Revenue and Customs
BX9 1ZH

Useful guides on this topic

Template: tax appeals
A template to make an appeal for a single or multiple clients. This also provides topics for grounds for appeal.

Penalties: late filing
Late returns can be subject to a mix of fixed and tax geared penalties. What penalties apply for late filing? Which penalty will apply and when? 

Grounds for Appeal: Reasonable excuse
What is considered to be a 'reasonable excuse' when a taxpayer makes an appeal against a tax compliance failure?

COVID-19 HMRC compliance round up  
HMRC have introduced a number of concessions this year to help mitigate the burden on taxpayers. This is a round-up of those concessions.