Time limit on VAT Surcharge Notice?

Time limit on VAT Surcharge Notice?

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Last year the company got hit for a VAT surcharge - one day late with payment due to a combination of unfortunate circumstances. (Over £30k penalty so not trivial)
We have tried the "reasonable excuse route", but been turned down for that.
We are now considering an appeal on the grounds that the previous Surcharge Extension notice (allegedly late return and which triggered this surcharge) was invalid. In going through the documentation, we spotted that the surcharge penalty rate given intthe notice was 0%.
We pointed this out to the VAT reconsideration team and they stated that it was "incorrectly issued", but then simply re-issued the notice some 6 months late.
What are the chances of appealing because surcharge was based on incorrectly issued surcharge extension notice?
I've looked at the any questions / answers and seen some other interesting stuff about HMRC claiming return received late, when posted on time - anyone got any recent experience of this. Unfortunately we did not have a proof of posting for the return, but would have to rely on the evidence of the financial accountant responsible for VAT returns at the time.

Jeremy Hall

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chips_at_mattersey
By Les Howard
11th Jan 2008 17:14

Customs have to issue correct surcharge liability notice
S59 requires Customs to issue a correct SLN. If they have failed to do this, and arguably that id the case, the Surcharge becomes invalid. You would need to check previous slns, to make sure the on-going liability period is/is not notified.
Les Howard

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