§ Mr. Kenneth ClarkeTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many late-filing penalty notices have been issued by the Inland Revenue to taxpayers due to submit 1996–97 self-assessment income tax returns; and how many of the penalty notices have proved(a) to be incorrect or (b) to be issued in error. [52761]
§ Dawn Primarolo670,000 late filing penalties have been issued to taxpayers whose 1996–97 self assessment tax returns were received after the filing deadline. About 8 million tax returns were filed on time. There are a number of circumstances in which a penalty notice may need to be cancelled. A common example would be where the taxpayer turns out to have a reasonable excuse for delivering the return late. However, there are no available statistics for the numbers of penalties which were discharged simply because they were incorrect or issued in error.