Wrong button

The appellant taxpayer was a church that employed one person. One of its members acted as treasurer and was responsible for dealing with PAYE although she had little financial knowledge. She was late submitting the 2010/11 P35 and claimed reasonable excuse.

The treasurer explained that the church had undergone a period of unrest caused by the dismissal of a minister who had created many problems. The situation had caused her and other members to suffer ill health and led to her forgetting to submit the P35 although all the PAYE was paid.

It was because of a call from HMRC on 19 September that she took action to submit the return – but she pressed the wrong button and updated the form rather than sending it.

She received a penalty notice on 26 September for the period ending 19 September and assumed the penalty period ended that day...