We recently took on a new client who had received several letters from The Pension Regulator regarding unpaid contributions. Due to not complying with the requirements in the letter a £400 fixed penalty notice was issued.
As the client was new we didn’t have access to the pension provider, so this had to be set up prior to being able to resolve the matter. The letters from The Pension Regulator were time sensitive, but we couldn’t resolve the problem until we had access. Evidence was provided to The Pension Regulator that we were doing what we could, and an extension was requested – after a couple of weeks we received a letter saying the fixed penalty notice had been revoked, and an extension was granted, however the matter still had to be dealt with in a timely manner.
Shortly after access was received from the pension provider and we could then resolve the unpaid contributions. Upon accessing the Pension provider, we saw that notices going back to September had been ignored and we dealt with these. Again, providing evidence of compliance to The Pension Regulator to which they confirmed this was satisfactory and the case was now closed.
Had this matter not been dealt with, a fixed penalty of £400 would have been re-issued and to add to that if the client had continued not to comply, escalating penalties would accrue at a daily rate of as much of £10,000.
We provide much more than just accountancy and tax advice. We take our clients’ interests to heart, in this instance we strived to ensure we did all we could to avoid the escalating penalties.
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