Reasonable to rely on employee

HMRC had withdrawn gross payment status from the taxpayer business because of late payment of construction industry scheme deductions.

The business was a partnership run by Mr and Mrs Harris that employed 20 members of staff with five subcontractors depending on the work available.

A general manager was responsible for the office. He had been with the company for 12 years was a cheque signatory and signed 90% of the cheques. A part-qualified accountant was also employed to deal with internal accounting CIS forms payments to HMRC etc.

Mr and Mrs Harris had made clear that HMRC returns and payments had to be made on time and made periodical checks.

The accountant called HMRC to tell them that a payment was going to be late due to personal problems. A second cheque was delayed because of an administrative error.

Mrs Harris was surprised...