Lost in the post

The taxpayers bought a residential property in March 2010. Their solicitor sent the stamp duty land tax return and payment to HMRC on the day the purchase took place.

A few weeks later the solicitor contacted the Revenue because the certificate of payment SDLT5 had not been received. The department said it had not received the stamp duty land tax payment. The solicitor therefore cancelled the original cheque and paid the tax electronically. HMRC imposed a late payment penalty.

The taxpayers appealed claiming reasonable excuse on the ground that the return and payment had been sent in good time and must have been lost in the post.

The First-tier Tribunal judge said that on the facts the appellants did have a reasonable excuse for late payment. They had appointed a solicitor who had dealt with...