Can this penalty be cancelled?
HMRC can cancel a penalty if you had a reasonable excuse and put things right as soon as you could. See where your reason stands and when to appeal by.
Your answer
Enter how many days ago the penalty notice was dated.
About this calculator
For anyone with a late filing or late payment penalty from HMRC: Self Assessment, VAT penalty points and late payment penalties, and other penalties. It gives a rough view of whether an appeal is likely to work, the date to appeal by, how to appeal and what to say.
It's a rough guide, not a prediction. HMRC (and, if it gets that far, the tax tribunal) decides each appeal on its own facts. It doesn't cover penalties for mistakes in a return or for not telling HMRC about income.
What happens to your answers
We don’t keep them. Your answers go to our server to do the sums and aren’t stored or logged. If you copy a link to your answers, they’re in the link itself, so only share it with people you trust.
How it’s worked out
We start from HMRC's own list. Things like the death of a close relative, an unexpected hospital stay, a serious illness, your computer failing while filing, HMRC's systems failing, a fire or flood, or an unexpected postal delay usually count. Not having the money, finding HMRC's website hard, not getting a reminder, or a mistake on your return don't.
Some reasons depend on the details. Relying on someone else only counts if you took reasonable care, and not knowing you had to depends on whether that was reasonable for you. The reason also has to be what stopped you at the deadline, and you must put things right without unreasonable delay once it ends. Any answer that doesn't meet these lowers our view.
The deadline is 30 days from the date on the penalty notice. After that you can still appeal, but you'll need to explain why you're late, so our view can't be better than possible.
Worked example
An appeal against this £100 penalty looks likely to be accepted, if you can show the dates.
Self Assessment late filing penalty · notice 12 days ago · an unexpected hospital stay · happening at the deadline · put right straight away once it ended
| Self Assessment late filing penalty | £100 |
|---|---|
| Your reason: an unexpected hospital stay: at most "likely to be accepted" | Likely to be accepted |
| Return or payment put right straight away once it ended: at most "likely to be accepted" | Likely to be accepted |
| Our rough view: the lowest of these | Likely to be accepted |
| Penalty notice dated 3 October 2026, plus 30 days | 2 November 2026 |
Worked out using HMRC's published rates for the 2026/27 tax year (6 April 2026 to 5 April 2027), on a yearly basis.
Questions people ask
Do I have to pay the penalty while I appeal?
For Self Assessment and other direct tax penalties, not until the appeal is settled. HMRC still suggests paying: if the appeal fails you'd owe interest, and if it succeeds you get the money back with interest.
What if HMRC turns my appeal down?
You'll be offered a review by someone who wasn't involved, which usually takes about 45 days. You have 30 days to accept it or go to the tax tribunal instead, and 30 days from a review's result to go to the tribunal.
My accountant was meant to file it. Does that count?
Sometimes. The law says relying on someone else only counts if you took reasonable care: you gave them your records in good time and checked it had been done.
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