Prior to becomming a client the taxpayer wrote to HMRC requesting they consider a ESC A19 claim on the basis that the P800's issued for 2007/08 and 2008/09 were very late and information held not used etc etc.
HMRC wrote back and said the usual ESC A19 not applicable and have now issued tax returns to be completed for those years. Does this now scupper any appeal against the ESC A19 decesion i.e. once formal tax returns are issued then HMRC are home and dry in terms of tax owed?
If this is the case then why issue P800's and waste time dealing with ESC A19 claims?
Thanks
Replies (3)
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SATRS following P800s
The issuing of SATRs does not preclude a further ESC A19 challenge - it is a complaint rather than an appeal though, as the P800 is an informal calculation (which is why HMRC have to issue a return to make it collectable). If HMRC issued the 2007/8 return after 05/04/2012, it is out of time and the underpayment for that year cannot be collected.
For a successful claim to ESC A19 you will need to identify the particular piece of information which HMRC did not act on and HMRC do not accept that P14s are information for these purposes (because they are not used to adjust codes); P46s and P45s are relevant information. You should also consider the possibility of employer error.
I have now had the same situation three times
There was an article by LITRG a while ago that gave a useful pro forma for ESCA19 complaints. They also believe that it is illogical for HMRC to ignore P14s for ESCA19.
For my clients (one of which has had an underpayment problem not picked up by HMRC since 2003!!!) I have completed the SA Returns with a note to the effect that they should not be processed until the ESCA19 matter has been concluded. I am at the internal review stage on two of the cases and will be referring them to the Adjudicators Office when that comes back with an unsatisfactory response.