CH140300 - Interest: appeals, mitigation and interest objections

You must check whether, and from which date, the FA 2009 interest rules apply to the tax or duty you are dealing with. See CH140160 for full details.

The law requires a person to pay the correct amount of tax due to HMRC by the due and payable date and HMRC charges interest when the person does not fulfil this obligation

There is no statutory right of appeal against interest or power in FA2009 which allows HMRC to mitigate or waive interest which has been charged on the correct amount of tax for the correct number of days using the correct start and end dates.

The underlying tax can be appealed, and if the tax is reduced the interest on that tax will automatically be reduced

Interest enquiries and objections

Any enquiries or objections about how late payment interest has been calculated should be dealt with in accordance with guidance in DMBM404000 .

• An enquiry is a question of a general nature for example about the rate of interest or the period for which it is charged.

• An objection is when
• the relevant date or effective date of payment is disputed
• a claim is made that mitigating circumstances apply
• legislation is questioned