No good reason

The taxpayer submitted his online 2012/13 tax return eight days after the deadline. HMRC imposed a late-filing penalty.

The taxpayer appealed. He claimed he had reasonable excuse because he had relied on his accountant to submit his return and the accountant had to wait for an authorisation code which did not arrive until after 31 January.

The First-tier Tribunal noted it was the responsibility of the taxpayer to ensure his returns were filed on time even when an agent was appointed to act on his behalf.

The taxpayer in this case did not engage the adviser until 31 January. The adviser told his client it would take up to two weeks to obtain an authorisation code and the taxpayer could have filed the return himself because his online account was active.

The taxpayer had plenty of time to file before the 31 January deadline. There was...