Are AE Fines worth appealing

Client did it right but did not file the disclosure form.

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I have a cleint who has a AE scheme he had to do. He has 1 employee who is 60 and has own pension provision. He had no interest of joining the scheme.

So client set it up himself, enrolled him then employee opted out, but cleint failed to log onto .gov.uk website and file the declaration.

He has now been filed £400 and is distraught. Are these worth appealing and how likely are they to cancel it.

AE is a right ball ache with cases like this.

Replies (15)

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Freddie
By Slim Freddie
24th Jan 2017 14:23

I think TPR are fairly strict on this. I haven't appealed one myself but I was at a conference with TPR at it. This question came up and he said they would be fined. They don't take any excuses apparently. But you could call and ask. All they can say is no. But if they say no, make sure your client pays the fine as it will only escalate if he doesn't.

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abc
By Kim Jong Un's Hair
24th Jan 2017 14:28

By this you mean the declaration submitted via the TPR (rather than gov.uk?)

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Replying to Kim Jong Un's Hair:
Glenn Martin
By Glenn Martin
24th Jan 2017 14:54

Yes sorry.

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Replying to Glennzy:
abc
By Kim Jong Un's Hair
24th Jan 2017 16:30

Good. Almost filled my pants.

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RLI
By lionofludesch
24th Jan 2017 14:37

They get a reminder about a month before the five month deadline. Did he not read it?

I haven't appealed one because it's never come up, I'm afraid.

Interesting about the employee. I had a case where the employee was nine months away from retiring and wanted to opt out. If he'd stayed in, the employer would have chipped into his small pension pot and he'd've doubled the money he paid himself. Better than any other investment he could have made - even if it was only small beer.

Anyway, I couldn't tell him that, could I?

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By HuntFord
24th Jan 2017 15:17

Client's who miss their declaration of compliance date also get a reminder, with a 14 day amnesty too, so he must have missed quite a few opportunities to get it done. They need to be strict, or else those who want to ignore it all will be able to.

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Replying to HuntFord:
RLI
By lionofludesch
24th Jan 2017 15:30

HuntFord wrote:

Client's who miss their declaration of compliance date also get a reminder, with a 14 day amnesty too, so he must have missed quite a few opportunities to get it done. They need to be strict, or else those who want to ignore it all will be able to.

Sadly, Glennzy, I think he's just another bloke who thought he could handle it himself but didn't read the instructions on the tin.

I'm sympathetic but, if you go through his waste paper bin (metaphorically, obviously), I bet you'll find some damning evidence.

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Replying to lionofludesch:
Glenn Martin
By Glenn Martin
24th Jan 2017 16:02

Yes your right I am sure he has a few reminders when I asked about this he just thought they had crossed in the post, as in his head he had done everything he needed to.

He was actually quite pleased with himself.

Another great opportunity by the government though to pass this onto the public without any training, then fine the [***] out of them when they make a mistake.

As a landlord I now understand it is my duty to make sure any tenants have leave to remain in the UK, or I can be fined if they have not.

So policing immigration is a new unpaid role I have picked up.

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Replying to Glennzy:
RLI
By lionofludesch
24th Jan 2017 16:15

Glennzy wrote:

Yes your right I am sure he has a few reminders when I asked about this he just thought they had crossed in the post, as in his head he had done everything he needed to.

He was actually quite pleased with himself.

Another great opportunity by the government though to pass this onto the public without any training, then fine the [***] out of them when they make a mistake.

As a landlord I now understand it is my duty to make sure any tenants have leave to remain in the UK, or I can be fined if they have not.

So policing immigration is a new unpaid role I have picked up.

Penalties are now a legitimate source of revenue. The Government love being able to say "well, we didn't want to fine you, we just wanted you to fill in the forms."

Funnily enough, I passed a minibus marked "Immigration Enforcement" on the M62 near Cas Vegas this morning. We're now making people stay here, it seems.

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Replying to lionofludesch:
By cheekychappy
24th Jan 2017 16:28

On the way to Ponte Carlo?

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Replying to cheekychappy:
RLI
By lionofludesch
24th Jan 2017 16:47

Feverly Hills first - then off to the Big Apple (Bramley).

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By Alex_T
25th Jan 2017 12:38

This might have to be chalked up to experience sadly. We haven't had a fine yet due in no small part to the consistent reminders from TPR. As a result, they have zero tolerance for employers missing deadlines.
I could be wrong but harsh as it may seem, appealing may just add to your client's frustration as I fear it would be pointless.
Best of luck!

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By Mr Hobbit
25th Jan 2017 12:46

I had a similar situation with a client. In order to appease him we appealed to TPR but to no avail. A successful appeal is very unlikely in this case.

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By Paul Deakins
29th Jan 2017 21:11

They are very strict (TPR) and will not accept excuses of any kind, I tried it for a client who was due to come to cessation at the year end, and low and behold they wouldn't let us off with it for an October deadline. They're brutal in a nutshell!!.

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Replying to Paul Deakins:
RLI
By lionofludesch
29th Jan 2017 21:22

Not really. They send enough reminders.

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