Accelerated Payment Notice: Can You Object to an APN?

Yes, you can object to an accelerated payment notice, but only by sending HMRC written representations within 90 days beginning with the day the notice is given, and only on the limited grounds in section 222(2) of the Finance Act 2014: that the conditions for the notice were not met, or that an amount stated in it is wrong. You cannot use that window to argue that your tax scheme works. Making representations can extend the payment deadline, but only to 30 days after HMRC tells you its decision, and only where that date is later than the original 90 days.

Most people who open an accelerated payment notice (APN) joined a tax scheme years ago, often through an employer or an adviser, and assumed that any dispute with HMRC would take years to settle. The surprise is that HMRC can demand the disputed tax now, before any tribunal has decided who is right, and the person holding the notice has far less room to argue than they expect.

What Is an Accelerated Payment Notice (APN)?

An APN is a notice from HMRC that requires you to pay the tax it says is in dispute before the dispute is resolved. Section 219(1) of the Finance Act 2014 says that HMRC may give an accelerated payment notice to a person if Conditions A to C are met. It is one of the consequences HMRC can pursue where it suspects that a scheme was used to obtain a tax advantage, which we cover in our work on tax avoidance and Code of Practice 8 investigations.

For a notice given while an enquiry is open, section 223 requires you to make the accelerated payment, and it is treated as a payment on account of the understated tax. It does not decide who wins, because the underlying dispute carries on. HMRC’s own factsheet on accelerated payments says that if you pay more than turns out to be due once the check or appeal ends, it will normally repay the excess with any interest due to you. Our guide to paying disputed HMRC debts explains why the pressure to pay a disputed sum arrives so early.

Who Can Be Given an APN? The Three Conditions

All three conditions in section 219 must be met. Condition A is that a tax enquiry is in progress into your return or claim, or that you have made an appeal that has not yet been decided or abandoned. Condition B is that the return, claim or appeal is made on the basis that a particular tax advantage results from particular arrangements. Condition C is met if HMRC has given you a follower notice, if the arrangements were notified under the disclosure of tax avoidance schemes (DOTAS) rules, or if one of several general anti-abuse rule (GAAR) notices has been given (section 219(4)(a) to (e)).

The notice must also relate to a “relevant tax”, which section 200 lists as income tax, capital gains tax, corporation tax, the apprenticeship levy, inheritance tax, stamp duty land tax and the annual tax on enveloped dwellings. VAT is not on that list, so a demand for disputed VAT is a different problem with a different route, and our guidance on hardship directions in VAT cases covers it.

How Much Do You Have to Pay, and When?

The amount is HMRC’s estimate, not a finding. For a notice given during an enquiry, section 220(3) fixes the payment by reference to the understated tax as worked out “to the best of that officer’s information and belief”. For a notice given during an appeal, section 221 applies the same test to what it calls the disputed tax.

For a notice given during an enquiry, the payment period is the 90 days beginning with the day the notice is given. If you make representations, it is the later of that 90 days and the 30 days beginning with the day HMRC notifies its decision (section 223(5)). HMRC’s factsheet counts the 90 days from the date you receive the notice, whereas the Act counts from the day the notice is given, so work from the earlier date. Payment is due even though the dispute continues, as our article on whether HMRC can enforce before a tribunal has decided the dispute explains.

HMRC does not charge interest for late payment of the accelerated payment itself, but interest still runs on the underlying tax, and what you pay stops interest accruing on that amount from the date you pay it.

How to Object to an Accelerated Payment Notice: Your 90-Day Window

Section 222(2) gives you 90 days beginning with the day the notice is given to send written representations to HMRC. There are three permitted objections: that Condition A, B or C was not met; that the amount specified under section 220(2)(b) or 221(2)(b) is wrong; or, mainly relevant to companies, that the amount specified under section 220(2)(d) or 221(2)(d) is wrong, which concerns an amount HMRC specifies for a claimed surrenderable corporation tax loss. HMRC must consider what you send (section 222(3)), then confirm the notice, with or without amendment, or withdraw it, and tell you its decision (section 222(4)). Representations are not a formal tax appeal, and our page on HMRC tax appeals covers that process.

Representations need evidence behind them. HMRC’s factsheet says that if you say the amount is wrong you must say what you think the correct amount is and why, and that you cannot make further representations once the 90 days have passed, so everything relevant must go in the first time. A bare statement that the amount is too high gives HMRC little to reconsider, whereas a worked calculation and the documents that support it give the reviewing officer something to test. If you have already sent representations and are unsure they were framed on the right ground, we can give a second opinion on your case.

Can You Delay or Pay an APN in Instalments?

Normally a taxpayer who appeals a direct tax decision can ask HMRC to postpone collection of the disputed tax under section 55 of the Taxes Management Act 1970. Section 224 of the Finance Act 2014 changes that: new section 55(8C) provides that nothing in section 55 enables postponement of the amount specified in an APN, and any postponement already in place ends when the notice is given. HMRC’s factsheet adds that you cannot ask for postponement if you make representations. Our article on delaying payments during an appeal sets out how postponement works in the ordinary case.

Time to pay is a separate matter. HMRC alone decides whether to agree an instalment arrangement, and our guide to HMRC time to pay arrangements explains what it looks at. HMRC’s guidance says that if you think you may have problems paying, you should tell HMRC straightaway.

APN or Statutory Demand: Which Have You Received?

People often search for an accelerated payment notice when the letter in front of them is something else. A statutory demand is a different document with a different and much shorter clock, as our page on the HMRC statutory demand explains. If you hold a statutory demand or a winding-up petition, the stakes include the survival of the company, and our winding up petition solicitors can advise on responding, including on validation orders that let a company keep trading once a petition has been presented. If you hold an APN and do not pay it, enforcement may follow, as our article on how an HMRC debt becomes enforceable describes.

What Happens If You Do Not Pay an APN? Penalties and Enforcement

For a notice given while an enquiry is open, if any part of the accelerated payment is unpaid at the end of the payment period you are liable to a penalty of 5% of the unpaid amount. A further 5% applies if it is still unpaid after 5 months beginning with the penalty day, and another 5% after 11 months, so the penalties can reach 15% in total (section 226(2) to (4)). The penalty day is the day immediately after the payment period ends (section 226(5)). Section 226(7) applies paragraphs 9 to 18 (other than paragraph 11(5)) of Schedule 56 to the Finance Act 2009, with modifications, so the special reduction in paragraph 9 and the reasonable excuse provision in paragraph 16 may be relevant, although an insufficiency of funds is not a reasonable excuse unless it is attributable to events outside your control. Where a notice is given pending an appeal, HMRC’s factsheet describes a different surcharge and penalty regime, with the penalty date falling 31 days after the due date. If HMRC charges a penalty you can appeal against it, as HMRC’s factsheet explains, and our page on tax penalty appeals lists responding to accelerated payment notices among the matters we handle.

The tax recovery rules also apply. For a notice given during an enquiry, section 223(8) provides that tax enactments on recovering a relevant tax apply to an amount paid on account under that section in the same way as they apply to the tax itself. Our page on HMRC enforcement action sets out the tools HMRC can use.

Challenging an APN in the High Court by Judicial Review

If HMRC confirms the notice after your representations, the usual route for a further challenge is judicial review. That tests whether HMRC acted lawfully, not whether the tax is due, and our page on judicial review applications against HMRC explains how a claim works. Under CPR 54.5(1) the claim form must be filed promptly and in any event not later than 3 months after the grounds to make the claim first arose, and the parties cannot extend that period by agreement (CPR 54.5(2)). Promptness is the primary test, and the three months is only the outer limit.

The three months may begin to run before HMRC has finished its review, so do not wait for the outcome of representations before taking advice. Our article on challenging HMRC decisions by judicial review in 2026 sets out the permission stage and the grounds a court will consider.

APN Deadlines That Run at the Same Time

Three clocks can be running at once. The first is the 90 days for representations and payment. The second is the 30 days after the specified date for notice of appeal against the underlying decision, set by section 31A(1)(b) of the Taxes Management Act 1970 for appeals under section 31. The third is the 3 months for judicial review. Each has its own start date, and a missed appeal date needs the tribunal’s permission, as our page on late appeals to the tax tribunal explains. If you cannot tell which date applies to your papers, send us the notice and we can identify the deadlines before anything else is done.

How We Can Help With an Accelerated Payment Notice

We act for individuals and businesses who have received accelerated payment notices, follower notices and related HMRC enquiries. That includes responding to the notice, challenging HMRC decisions and representing clients before the tribunal and the courts. We work on a fee-paying basis, we do not offer no win no fee arrangements in tax disputes, we do not offer free legal advice or legal aid, and we generally take on substantial matters, as our funding page explains.

We are dual qualified solicitors and barristers with chambers in Middle Temple, next to the Royal Courts of Justice. We offer a fixed fee advice conference with both a solicitor and a barrister, and the quickest way to start is to complete our legal case assessment form and attach a copy of the notice, so that we can see the date it was given before the 90 days run down.

This article is general information for England and Wales, and is not legal advice.