I want to send in a "nil" P35, ie one that confirm absolutely no payments of salaries, benefits or whatever, and no supporting forms P14.
Not interested in the £150 online filing incentive (obviously not available in this case), only interested in avoiding a penalty for failure to file.
We used to be able to do this online. I gather now that this is not possible for 2006-07 and have to send in a paper one. Sheesh! 1 step forward, 2 steps back.
Clint Westwood
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Sheesh indeed!
I wrote to HMRC re a couple of clients saying that no pay made and no return due, they called (yes, THEY called ME!) to confirm that they would cancel the P35.
Will a letter do?
Where there were no employees, I was intending to send in a letter confirming no P35 was due, rather than actually sending in one which said nil. Do you think that would be acceptable?
Could you ever do it online?
I didn't think you had ever been able to send in a NIL P35 online.
However you don't have to send in a paper one, just pick the phone up and call your local office. Suggest you get the name of the person you speak to and mak a note of the date and time though!
Yup JoSie, it was possible in earlier years
see
https://www.accountingweb.co.uk/cgi-bin/item.cgi?id=141232
however you had to take care even then. Click the wrong button and the option was lost for ever (for that client and year).
Clearly, HMRC felt that it was easier to force everyone back to paper forms than to amend the online software to filter out those which did not qualify for the incentive.
Part Return
I could be wrong here, Clint, but are you sure you did not file a 'part return' ,
ie. indicating that the P14s will follow on a separate submission ?
EDITED - I've done the same for one this year, and for the same reason (£900). I didn't realise till too late that I've probably created an expectation of P.14s to follow, and therefore will, no doubt, face the very penalties/appeals that I was trying to avoid. Hey Ho :o)
No need.
There is no need to file a P35 if no P11s have been filled in.
They can only fine you if you have a duty to file.
Tim you may be right
It has been a while and I can't remember any more
Neil, you may also be right technically, However if they are expecting a return and you do nothing about it, you can expect a £900 penalty notice to be issued 9 months down the line. Whilst you can get that vacated on appeal, I would really rather avoid the hassle. As others mention, a letter may suffice. It would still be quicker and easier to point and click with the mouse, but hey ho.