Wrong reference

Error on land transaction return

The taxpayer submitted a land transaction return and paid the stamp duty land tax for a lease transaction on a residential flat. The return was filed 39 days late and HMRC imposed a penalty.

The company said it had submitted the return and paid the tax in time but then discovered as a result of HMRC saying the relevant certification could not be issued that the form contained the wrong reference. It resubmitted the form but by then had missed the deadline.

The First-tier Tribunal accepted that the agent had made all reasonable efforts to find out why the form had not been received. Further everyone makes mistakes but this could not provide a reasonable excuse. The taxpayer could not blame HMRC for not informing it that there was an error on the form. It was ‘incumbent on those completing forms’...