Burden of proof

MISSING DOCUMENTS WERE the recent subject of a Readers' forum query (see 'Burden of proof Query T16 786 Taxation 6 April 2006 page 23). The cases concerned documents apparently sent to HMRC but which were not received. In both cases the taxpayer could not prove that the documents were sent but neither could the HMRC Officer prove that they were not. In the first case a P35 was sent by the client without a covering letter; in the second case an election was submitted with other documents but the covering letter did not specifically refer to the election.
The querist refers to the burden of proof and therefore it can be assumed that this has arisen on an appeal as the burden of proof only arises when a matter is subject to appeal. I tend to refer to the 'onus of proof' and...