HMRC fines - help!

[FelicisWolf]

So my DH went self employed about 3 years ago, we registered him as self employed with HMRC. He then set up a limited company that he was a director of (obviously), and we employed an accountant to file his taxes. We have just realised that he has £1600 of fines for not filing self employment tax returns for 16/17 and now 17/18. Do we have a case for an appeal? As in he has been a director of a company and paid taxes through that, and we didn't realise forgot that we had to tell them he therefore wasn't technically self employed any more??

Registering as self-employed automatically triggers self assessment. You get letters reminding you that you have to complete the online form by a certain date. "Forgetting" isn't a reason not to do it. It's also entirely possible to be both the director of a limited company and self-employed in another capacity.

However, I'm wondering why your accountant didn't pick up on this, assuming you told him/her about the full situation.

How have you just realised? HMRC will have sent dozens of letters to the address you used when you registered for self-assessment (presumably your home address)?

We moved address, gave it to the accountant to change... it goes without saying we are changing accountants

While I can sympathise, I am sure your partner has been withdrawing money from the company as well? Presumably his accountant will have set up the drawings to be tax-efficient, which will mean a mixture of PAYE and dividends. Dividends are not taxed at source and will need to be reported on the tax return.

If his income is PAYE only via the company, then I would appeal to HMRC stating a tax return is not due as there is no tax liability. They like to ask for tax returns for all directors, but actually it's not a legal criteria (as much as they like to say it is in their guidance). Just feign ignorance and hope for the best.