Tax cases

Chronology counts

The taxpayer registered voluntarily for VAT with effect from 16 March 1993. In a letter dated 30 August 1996 he told Customs that he had ceased trading and requested a deregistration form. Customs wrote on the same date to notify the taxpayer that his VAT registration would be cancelled with effect from 1 September 1996. Before trading ceased Customs had raised a query on the VAT treatment of certain interim payments received. The taxpayer contested this and after his deregistration he maintained that VAT Act 1994 Sch 11 para 7 did not apply to him as an unregistered person.
Customs imposed penalties on the taxpayer so he appealed. The tribunal in November 1999 dismissed the appeal.
Subsequent attempts by Customs to contact the taxpayer were unsuccessful. In February 2000 Customs wrote to the taxpayer to say that they believed...