HMRC tries to head off PAYE appeals problems

Tax officials last night tried to stop people hit by the PAYE blunder successfully appealing against unexpected demands.

In a briefing to accountants,The Times reported, officials clarified the rules, in effect limiting the number of people likely to be able to evade the new demands.

The rules state HMRevenue & Customs must issue demands for underpaid tax within 12 months of the end of the tax year in which it became aware of the situation.

If the Revenue does not comply with these rules, it has to consider applications not to repay tax owed if the people could have reasonably assumed that their tax code was correct and if they are in financial hardship.

The taxman issued a series of examples to leading accountants in efforts to clarify who qualifies for the concession as fears grew that HMRC would be inundated with unfounded applications.

Further reading:

Government proposes ‘real time’ changes to PAYE payments