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What happens when you don't read your HMRC notices
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Tax basics: Don’t ignore those HMRC emails

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Moving to digital tax proved costly for one taxpayer who discovered that ignoring an HMRC electronic notice to file landed him with £1,300 in late filing penalties.

27th Jan 2020
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As part of its broader strategy, the tax department has been encouraging taxpayers to switch to paperless communication via their online personal tax account.

The recent tribunal decision in Benjamin Liam Smith vs HMRC (TC07510) sets out the tangle he got into after consenting to paperless filing in June 2016. The following April HMRC posted a notice to file in his online account and sent him an email notifying him about the new message.

Smith had operated a one-person service company up until December 2014, when he took up a full-time job as an employee of a large company.  

In his testimony before the tribunal convened to hear his reasonable excuse appeal, Smith said he understood from a conversation with HMRC’s helpline in April 2016 that he would not need to file a tax return for 2016-17, so he assumed the email message he received on 6 April 2017 was spam, and deleted it. 

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Replies (3)

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By propraxis
27th Jan 2020 11:16

Hi,

It would have been interesting if the email had not been received if HMRC send out reminders if the online message has not been read as there is no guarantee a sent email will be received.

Regards
SteveB

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By adam.arca
27th Jan 2020 13:08

And this is precisely why I NEVER agree to have anything electronically where I have the option to receive it on paper.

Whether the Revenue like it or not, the psychology of an awful lot of people (obviously including me) is to put a lot more weight on a piece of paper we can see and read rather than some random email.

I actually think pursuing a penalty issue on this is incredibly short-sighted of the Revenue as it will simply discourage people from signing up for electronic communications if / when this issue becomes more widely known (I've already been doing my bit alerting clients to the risks and HMRC are now simply making my argument for me).

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By Cathy Milligan
27th Jan 2020 15:20

On a similar thread, pre MTD, HMRC used to send me (the agent) an email for each client to remind me to file their VAT returns. Post MTD, the emails are only sent now for the non MTD clients?
So where are the emails to the MTD clients going? Or are they not being sent anymore?
Thanks,

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