Self Assessment

Penalty for a late Partnership

Tax Return

The enclosed form SA328 Late Partnership Tax Return:

Penalty Notice gives details of the penalty now imposed

because we did not receive your Tax Return by the due date.

Please read the penalty notice. If there is anything you do

not understand, please ask us.

If you are the nominated representative partner, and have

not already done so, send us the Tax Return now to avoid

further penalties on yourself and other partners.

We are sending a copy of the penalty notice to your tax

adviser, if you have one.

Please use this leaflet if you want to appeal against the

penalty. It explains the grounds on which the representative

partner may be able to appeal and includes an appeal form.

Self Assessment

SA356 HMRC 12/08

Appeals against this penalty

Only the representative partner can appeal against this

penalty. This is the partner (or their successor) nominated

to complete the Partnership Tax Return and send it back.

If you are not the representative partner, you may wish to

ensure that they do send in an appeal on behalf of the

other partners.

If you are the representative partner, you can appeal if you

think you have a reasonable excuse for not sending the

Tax Return back in time.

The law does not say what is a reasonable excuse, and

we consider each case on its own merits. This leaflet

explains, in general terms, how we do this. We take a

strict view but, if you do not agree, you can appeal to an

independent tribunal.

How to appeal

If you, the representative partner, intend to appeal,

you must do this within 30 days of the date of the

penalty notice.

Use the appeal form in this leaflet or send us a letter

setting out your reason(s) for appealing against the

penalty. Send your appeal to the office shown on the front

of the penalty notice.

Give us full details, including the dates of events. We

normally expect you to have sent the Tax Return back

within 14 days after a reasonable excuse period has

ended. So if the Tax Return is still outstanding, send it now.

If your reasonable excuse is continuing, we cannot fully

consider your appeal until we have received the

Tax Return.

How appeals are dealt with

If we agree you have a reasonable excuse, we will write

and tell you so. We will cancel the penalties and send

amended Self Assessment Statements to all partners.

If we do not agree you have a reasonable excuse, we will

explain why and ask if you accept this. If you still think you

have a good reason, we will offer you a review of our

decision by a person not involved in making that decision

and tell you about your right to appeal to an

independent tribunal.

You can find further information in factsheet HMRC1.

The factsheet can be found on our website at

www.hmrc.gov.uk/factsheet/hmrc1.pdf or by phoning the

Self Assessment Orderline on 0845 900 0404.

What is a reasonable excuse for not meeting

the deadline?

The representative partner is responsible for gathering all

the information needed to complete the Partnership Tax

Return. We allow plenty of time for this, and give more

than enough notice of the date when the Tax Return is due.

Therefore only the representative partner can have a

reasonable excuse for not sending the Tax Return back on

time. The circumstances of the other partners are not

normally relevant.

If you are the representative partner, in our view you have

a reasonable excuse where an exceptional event beyond

your control has prevented you from sending us the

Tax Return by the deadline.

We are unlikely to agree you were prevented from

sending the Tax Return if during the exceptional event

you were able to manage the rest of your private and

business affairs.

See overleaf for examples of what we would and would

not accept as a reasonable excuse.

Examples of what we may agree as a

reasonable excuse

You did not receive the Tax Return

We usually know when a Tax Return, or Notice to file, has

not been received, because it is sent back as undelivered.

We then reissue the Tax Return to the correct address.

Where we are satisfied that you did not receive the

Tax Return, or Notice to file, we would of course agree this

is a good reason for not filing on time.

Your Tax Return was lost or delayed in the post

If you posted your Tax Return to us in good time, but an

unforeseen event disrupted the normal postal service.

For example:

• fire or flood at the Post Office

• prolonged industrial action within the Post Office.

Loss of tax records

Loss of tax records through fire, flood or theft, in

circumstances in which the information could not be

replaced in time to meet the deadline. We may need to

see evidence of this.

Serious illness

The illness must be so serious that it prevented you from

controlling your business and private affairs immediately

before the due date, and up to the time you sent us the

Tax Return.

We would agree coma, major heart attack, stroke or any

other serious mental or life-threatening illness as a

reasonable excuse.

Where illness involves a lengthy stay in hospital or

convalescence we would normally expect you to have

made arrangements for dealing with your Tax Return. We

accept there may be cases where this was not possible.

Serious illness of close relative or domestic partner

We would only agree this if:

• the situation took up a great deal of your time and

attention during the period from the due date to the

date you sent us the Tax Return, and

• you had already taken the necessary steps to have

your Tax Return ready on time.

Bereavement

Naturally we would agree the death of a close relative or

domestic partner shortly before the due date as a

reasonable excuse, as long as you had already taken the

necessary steps to have your Tax Return ready on time.

Examples of what we would not agree as a

reasonable excuse

Tax Return too difficult to complete

We would not agree this as a reasonable excuse. If you

have difficulties you should seek help from us or a tax

adviser at an early date.

Pressure of work

We give plenty of notice of the due date to enable you to

arrange matters to deal with the Tax Return on time.

Failure by agent or tax adviser

We would not normally agree this. It is your responsibility

to have your Tax Return ready on time.

Lack of information

We would not normally agree this. If you cannot obtain

certain details you should enter an estimate on your

Tax Return, with an explanation of why the figure has

been estimated. See the Partnership Tax Return Guide.

We did not remind you

We normally issue a reminder shortly before the first

penalty becomes due. But even if you did not receive the

reminder we would not regard this as a reasonable excuse.

The deadline is clearly shown on the Tax Return or Notice

to file.

Further help

If you need further help:

• you can get in touch with the HM Revenue & Customs

office shown on the penalty notice, or

• you can visit our website at www.hmrc.gov.uk

For general advice, please call our Helpline on

0845 9000 444.

These notes are for your guidance only and reflect the

position at the time of writing. They do not affect your

right of appeal.

If you want to appeal against the partnership penalty, fill in this form so that we may consider the matter. Please use capital letters.

For non-partnership penalties, use form SA326(1) instead. When completed, send this form to the office shown on the penalty notice.

Appeal against partnership penalty

Partnership name and address

I, the representative partner, or their agent, wish to appeal

against the penalty of

for the Partnership Tax Return for year ended 5 April enter year

•

Full name

Address

ostcode

Partnership tax reference From the top right-hand corner

of the penalty notice

Representative partner Enter the name of the partner

nominated to complete the Partnership Tax Return

Date of penalty notice DD MM YYYY

A Please give the reason for your appeal Put ‘X’ in the appropriate box

Tax Return lost in the post –

I enclose a copy of the Return Tax Return delayed in the post

Serious illness of representative partner,

or his/her close relative or domestic partner Bereavement

Other please specify

B Please give details in support of A above State exactly what happened and when

SA328(1) HMRC 12/08

Agent's name and address If appropriate

Full name

Address

Postcode

Daytime phone number

Signature of representative partner or agent

Date DD MM YYYY

continue overleaf if necessary