Revenue is not 'hunting down undelivered tax forms'
The Inland Revenue has rubbished claims by a leading accounting firm that it aims to raise an extra £50m by hunting down taxpayers whose self-assessment forms have been incorrectly addressed.
Link: Revenue should write off overpayments: Tories
In a statement released this week, accounting firm Wilkins Kennedy warned that up to 35,000 tax payers could be liable for large fines, tax and interest charges if their tax forms failed to arrive because of an incorrect address. It is estimated that 500,000 self-assessment forms are undelivered.
Peter Goodman, head of tax, at Wilkins Kennedy, said: ‘The majority of these incorrectly addressed forms will be the result of people moving house and not telling the Revenue. When this happens individuals may accumulate fines and interest on unpaid tax up until returns are filed, a process that could take months or even years.’
Revenue spokesman Beryl St. James, however, said this was ‘absolute rot’ and emphasised that Revenue was not going to crackdown on undelivered forms any more than it normally would.
‘If a self-assessment form, or any form for that matter, is undelivered because of an incorrect address, each case will be looked at individually. Returns can be undelivered because of a death or prison sentence,’ said St. James.
‘Only if a tax return is undelivered and serious fraud or avoidance is suspected, will fines and other penalties be considered.’