Enter your HMRC penalty and get a formal appeal letter citing the exact legislation and case law that overturns fines — grounded in the Perrin v HMRC reasonable-excuse test.
What you owe
Penalty
£1,300
Grounds to appeal
£0
if your appeal succeeds
HMRC penalties escalate over time. A £100 fine can become £1,300+ after 6 months — and your 30-day appeal window is ticking.
Everything you need to overturn it
Do nothing
Initial late-filing penalty
Daily penalties, £10 × 90 days
Tax-geared penalty kicks in
A further tax-geared penalty
One price
one-off — not a subscription
See your grounds before you pay.
How it works
Describe what happened in plain English. We assess your grounds instantly — no sign-up.
We identify the legislation and reasonable-excuse arguments that apply to your penalty.
A formal, statute-cited appeal ready to submit online or post with form SA370.
The credibility
Not testimonials. Statute and case law — the same authorities a tax adviser cites.
Core Self Assessment penalty provisions — s.93 late filing, s.86 late-payment interest.
The modern penalty regime: Schedule 55 late filing, Schedule 56 late payment.
The structured legal test for reasonable excuse — addressed in every letter.
TaxFlip covers traditional Self Assessment, VAT, Corporation Tax and PAYE penalties. The new MTD-ITSA regime uses a separate points-based system for late quarterly updates — those penalties work differently, so check the penalty type on your notice before you appeal.
Common questions
Yes. If you have a reasonable excuse — such as serious illness, bereavement, fire, flood, IT failure, or HMRC's own error — you can appeal within 30 days of the penalty notice. Over a million penalties are issued each year, and many are successfully appealed.
HMRC accepts: serious illness or disability, bereavement, fire or flood, computer or software failure, postal delays, HMRC errors, and mental health conditions. They do not accept 'I forgot', 'I was too busy', 'I didn't know about the deadline', or 'I couldn't afford to pay'.
TaxFlip identifies your penalty type (late filing, late payment, VAT, Corporation Tax, PAYE) and applies the correct legislation — Taxes Management Act 1970, Finance Act 2009 Schedule 55/56, or VAT Act 1994 — and addresses the Perrin v HMRC reasonable-excuse test.
No. TaxFlip generates appeal letters based on publicly available UK tax legislation and established case law. It does not constitute formal legal advice. For complex cases or tribunal appeals, we recommend consulting a chartered tax adviser or solicitor.
HMRC aims to respond within 45 days. If they accept your appeal, the penalty is cancelled. If they reject it, you can request a statutory review by a different HMRC officer, or appeal to the First-tier Tribunal (Tax Chamber) — which is free and independent of HMRC.
You can try. If you have a good reason for the late appeal — such as not receiving the penalty notice, or ongoing illness — HMRC may still consider it. TaxFlip will include a paragraph explaining the late appeal if applicable.
Most people pay HMRC penalties they could have overturned. TaxFlip gives you the same legal arguments a chartered adviser would use — for £19.99, one-off.
Free assessment. No sign-up. Takes about 2 minutes.