COM101130 - Penalties: penalty determinations: review of penalties
Source: gov.uk (2025-10-15)


This subject is presented as follows

Work list DRNR (#IDA2Z4PG)Work list PENR (#IDA544PG)

Work list DRNR

Work list DRNR (Determination Required No Return List) shows you all the cases in your office where 18 months have passed since the end of the Accounting Period (AP) and:
- the filing date for the return has passed
- no return has been received
- no self assessment has been recorded
- the company is not in a Group Payment Arrangement (GPA)
COTAX puts new cases on the list once a month.

Flat-rate penalty determinations have normally been issued automatically for cases that appear on this work list.

At the end of preparing the revenue determination, you are presented with a choice of actions depending upon the penalty position on the system.

The options are as follows:
- Auto Issue. If you choose this option, COTAX issues the penalty 14 days later but if the case is RLS, COTAX does not issue the determination until a new address has been entered on the record
- use PPEN (Prepare Penalty Determination). COTAX takes you to that function
- no penalty required. COTAX sets the NPR signal to inhibit penalty issue for the AP
You normally use function PPEN to issue the penalty determination immediately so that Government Banking and Payments (GBP) can pursue the tax and penalty at the same time. Cases are not automatically deleted from the DRNR work list until the revenue determination has been issued or you have set the no determination required signal and you have issued the penalty or set the no penalty required signal.

COTAX does not recognise that a tax-related penalty has been incurred when the return has not been delivered within 18 months after the end of the AP if you reissued the notice to deliver and the company incurs a tax-related penalty earlier than the higher flat-rate penalty of £200. See COM100070 (https://www.gov.uk/hmrc-internal-manuals/cotax-manual/com100070) for more information.

The company is liable to both a £100 flat-rate and a ten per cent tax-related penalty but COTAX does not identify the tax-related penalty until either the higher flat-rate penalty is incurred or the return is received.

These cases appear on the DRNR work list when appropriate.

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Work list PENR

The PENR (Penalties Requiring Review List) work list contains cases for which a penalty determination has been made that needs to be reviewed because one or more of the following have taken place and COTAX cannot carry out the required action automatically:
- the filing date or deferred filing date has changed
- you log a return with a date of receipt before the filing date after a penalty has been determined
- you unlog a return for an Accounting Period (AP) with a penalty determination
- an assessment has been prepared
- an AP with a penalty determination has been superseded and requires review
- a tax related penalty has been set on the record and the Group Payment Arrangement indicator is changed to ‘P’
- a penalty has been charged and the company is in administration or receivership
The work list shows:
- the latest penalty incurred
- the date of receipt of the return
- the reason for the case being on the list as described above
See:
- COM102000 (https://www.gov.uk/hmrc-internal-manuals/cotax-manual/com102000) and COM140000 (https://www.gov.uk/hmrc-internal-manuals/cotax-manual/com140000) onwards for more information about these work lists and how to deal with cases on them
- COM101031 (https://www.gov.uk/hmrc-internal-manuals/cotax-manual/com101031) for a list of functions to use in particular situations
- COM101011 (https://www.gov.uk/hmrc-internal-manuals/cotax-manual/com101011) for legislation applying to this subject