A tax claim or election should be made by the taxpayer it applies to, or in certain cases by the taxpayer’s personal representatives. This is normally achieved by attaching the claim to the taxpayer’s tax return.
The deadline for most tax claims is now four years from the end of the tax year, or the first anniversary of the filing date for the tax return (31 January), so the claim may be submitted after the tax return has been filed.
For some claims HMRC provide a specific form, to ensure that all the necessary information is supplied. For example, form HS290 can be used to claim business asset rollover relief .However, other elections, such as for negligible value relief (see HS286), do not have a specific claim form.
Where there is no claim form, it is best to write to HMRC, setting out the values in the claim and what legislation the claim/election is made under. It is not advisable to use an HMRC form that is designed for another purpose, or attempt to submit the claim by email.
Mr Ward said he made a negligible value claim by logging into his personal account with HMRC, and applying to reduce his payment on account under self-assessment. He didn’t submit a tax calculation. The reason given for requesting the tax reduction was; “the tax allowances and reliefs have gone up”. It is quite amazing that the tax tribunal found for the taxpayer and agreed that his negligible value claim was valid and submitted on time.