Lack of consideration

The taxpayer’s 2012/13 return had a deadline of 20 May 2014. He submitted it on 12 August 2014 leading HMRC to impose a late-filing penalty of £100.

The taxpayer’s accountants claimed their client had a reasonable excuse because they had submitted form 64-8 in January 2014 requesting a unique taxpayer reference (UTR). The Revenue did not deal with the matter until 8 July 2014 and did not tell the accountants that a return had been issued.

The First-tier Tribunal found the return had been filed late. The taxpayer had no reasonable excuse because he should have shown the accountants the notice to file which included the UTR that was issued in February 2014.

But the tax authority had not considered “special circumstances” (FA 2009 Sch 55). The judge noted the department’s statement of case included the sentence “HMRC have considered special reduction but...