Postby hombre contento » Tue Jan 02, 2018 5:02 pm
Thanks to all of you for your replies. I wrote to HMRC and asked that they show evidence of actually POSTING the letter,. I was sent in reply evidence that showed a letter was created but it didn't actually show evidence of it being posted. As the quote from s7 by "maths" below states, the letter needs to be correctly addressed, pre-paid and posted. So, i went back again and asked for evidence that it was posted and got the following reply. Basically, they say there is "no proof of posting as individual letters issued by post are not recorded" and then go on to say that it was prepared and passed to the local posting office in the normal way and that, in the absence of it being returned to them as undelivered, they are entitled to assume it was validly delivered.
My first reaction is that it seems quite wrong that they don't record either the posting or delivery of letters which have a statutory deadline attached to them. Given they are required to send out enquiry notices before a deadline, I would have assumed that this would carry with it the requirement to record that they met their own deadline. Makes no sense to me otherwise, but I guess those are the rules. Is that correct?
Secondly, I am wondering what to do now. They are offering a right to a third party officer HMRC review and/or appeal to the tribunal. I am 100% certain that I never received the letter and I do have my suspicions that the letter was created but never sent as the officer was a bit equivocal when I spoke to him about it. So i'm minded to ask for a review by a non-involved HMRC officer as it seems a no lose option (I retain the right to appeal later) and I can ask that officer to specifically check whether it was validly posted. Welcome any other views on the matter.
Best regards