Fifth one unlucky

The taxpayer filed his online 2011/12 self assessment return on 22 February 2013 almost a month after the submission deadline.

The Revenue imposed a late filing penalty. The taxpayer’s agent appealed to the department on his client’s behalf claiming the return had been filed on 25 January and given “every indication of having been received by HMRC” but had apparently not reached the tax authority’s server.

The problem had been suffered by five other clients on the same day. No one on the Revenue’s helpdesk had been able to explain what had gone wrong.

The agent said the other clients had their late filing penalties cancelled – but HMRC did not accept the explanation in this instance saying “Failure to hit the final submission button when filing the return online is not regarded as grounds of reasonable excuse”. Each case had to be treated on...