CIS return was in time

A contractor appealed against a late filing penalty in respect of its monthly construction industry scheme return for June 2009. It was received three days late.

The director of the company said the return had been posted in good time to reach HMRC. He did not have proof but according to the firm’s normal pattern of posting a return was posted between the 11th and the 13th of each month to reach the taxman by the 19th.

The company had been subject to four previous penalty notices although two had been cancelled because of Revenue error and the other two were cancelled because the department accepted they had been posted in good time.

The tribunal chairwoman concluded the director was not a ‘serial late filer of returns’ but a ‘diligent taxpayer endeavouring to meet his obligations’.

She accepted that the return had been posted in...