Tax penalties for armed forces in Afghanistan – Free Appeal

January 21, 2012 · Filed Under Tax

John

There are reports that soldiers serving in Afghanistan will be fined by HMRC for late submission of tax returns even though they may not have access to the internet to be able to file the tax return.

It is correct that anyone, even serving soldiers in Afghanistan, failing to file their tax return on time will automatically receive a penalty notice. As the HMRC spokesman quoted correctly said, that is the law so the penalties will be issued. But, of course, that isn’t the end of the story. I’m no great defender of HMRC but in this instance they are being criticised unfairly.

HMRC don’t actually know which members of the armed forces are serving in Afghanistan – or anywhere else – so they can’t really be expected to make special arrangements for servicemen in this category. There is, however, an appeals process. If someone can provide a “reasonable excuse” for not submitting their tax return on time the penalty will be cancelled. There aren’t a lot of excuses which will be considered as reasonable – but it’s a good bet that no taxman is going to turn down an appeal from a serviceman who was in Afghanistan at the time of the filing deadline.

It should also be remembered that there are relatively few servicemen who have to submit tax returns.

We are happy to submit an Appeal to HMRC for any serviceman, serving in Afghanistan at the time of the deadline, receiving a penalty for late submission of a tax return – and we will do this free of charge. Just contact us.

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Comments

4 Responses to “Tax penalties for armed forces in Afghanistan – Free Appeal”

Peter West on January 25th, 2012 12:20 am

What a non-story. Soldiers like everyone else have had 10 months to send in a tax return. If they have significant non-PAYE income then this could be sorted with a few phone calls to an accountant. And they have relatives here who could file for them. While I admire their courage, I see no reason why soldiers with external, non-forces income, should not have to fill in the same forms as the rest of us, or, like me, just get an accountant to do it for them.
johnperry on February 4th, 2012 8:53 am

In general I agree with you – but there are occasions when being in Afghanistan (or anywhere else in the world)can cause difficulties.

There are relatively few members of the armed forces who will actually need to complete a tax return. Reasons for needing to complete one may include a second income (such as Property Let) and, in general, these should be dealt with within the period allowed.

However, bearing in mind that tax returns need to be submitted covering a period from April 2010, some serving soldiers were not members of the forces for the whole of that time. In which case they are reliant on previous employers to provide income details. P11D information is a particular difficulty because many employers think that if someone has left they don’t need to provide a P11D. Extracting the information can be painful and time consuming.

There are also situations where the serviceman was self employed before joining up and this can cause its own problems, particularly if the work carried out was in the building trade and CIS deductions were made and recalcitrant or disorganised builders haven’t issued the correct documentation.

We find that we are chasing information for clients living just around the corner where communication is easy. Requesting information from someone in Afghanistan introduces delays into the system.

It should also be remembered that not all personnel in Afghanistan are regular soldiers. Members of the TA are also in Afghanistan and, almost invariably, they have other income from any one of a number of sources.

Also, not everyone has the full 10 months to complete a return. HMRC can issue a request to complete a tax return within three months at any time – so someone may not necessarily know that they are required to complete one. There may be no apparent reason for the request but once it is issued it must be complied with.
MartinPaul on March 12th, 2012 7:54 pm

Dear John Perry,

I am a serving member of the Forces. When a soldier completes a tour of duty, be it in Afghanistan, or many other countries around the world. It is not just a 6 month tour, on average the tour of duty is normaly closer to 7 months. taking into consideration, travel times, hand over / take over and numerous amounts of in theatre training.

For the 5 months building upto an Operational tour, what do you think the soldier is doing then? that is right, he is in another country carrying out arduous training in preperation for the up and coming Operational tour.

You are right. We do have the same time frame ae everyone else to complete the form (10 Months). But as you can see, we normally spend more than the 6 months away from home that you think.

So, Mr JohnPerry. If a soldier cannot fill in a tax return because of an operational commitment. It is for a reason!!!!
johnperry on March 16th, 2012 10:46 am

Martin

I think I was on your side. If you look above, it was Peter West who called it a “non story” and isn’t very sympathetic. I’m on the side of the serving soldier and think that service overseas is a “reasonable excuse” – which is why we offered to submit appeals free of charge.