Employers’ Annual Returns
HMRC have confirmed that they are currently sending penalty notices for late submissions of the 2007/8 Employer’s Annual Return. The deadline for submitting both forms P14 and P35 was 19 May 2008.
The fixed penalty for non-submission is £100 per 50 employees for each month the return was outstanding in the four month period from 20 September 2008 – 19 January 2009. Penalties were issued last year relating to the previous four month period (from 20 May – 19 September 2008).
Any business with 50 or less employees where a return has not been submitted will receive a penalty notice of £400; for a business with 51-100 employees the penalty will be £800 and so on.
No penalties will be issued where an appeal is outstanding. Should a business wish to appeal the current penalty notice, an appeal must be sent within 30 days to the address on the penalty notice.
Where a company had no employees during 2007/8 they should notify HMRC who will cancel the penalty and ensure that further notices are not sent.