Introduced in 2014, APNs enable the UK tax authority to request full upfront payment of disputed tax within 90 days without the right of appeal.
The notices were designed to combat what HMRC sees as ‘abusive’ tax avoidance.
Often accompanied by threats to repossess the taxpayer’s property and make them bankrupt, individuals are given 90 days to pay the APN, with no right of appeal.
In a new guidance note on its website, the tax office has provided further details on what individuals can do if the penalty is incorrect or has been collected outside of its normal powers.
In February last year, HMRC revealed that it has collected more than £2bn ($2.9bn, €2.6bn) in disputed tax from suspected avoiders since it brought in the APNs in 2014.
Just months later, London-based law firm RPC won a landmark ruling which found that HMRC was wrong to issue APNs to taxpayers under the employee benefit trust (EBT) arrangements, meanwhile a lawsuit in 2015 questioned the legality of the penalty system.
Last month, UK accountancy firm Moore Stephens revealed that HMRC has withdrawn 4,300 APNs after sending them out in error.
Latest figures from HMRC show it is now handing out more than 3,000 APNs each month, having issued nearly 41,000 since they were introduced. It expects to have collected more than £5bn in fines for the Exchequer by March 2020.
