Close dates

Penalty for late filed construction industry scheme return

The taxpayer registered for the construction industry scheme in August 2016. It submitted the August return one month late so HMRC imposed a penalty.

The director of the company claimed ill health as a reasonable excuse for the delay. He also said he had had to wait to register for the scheme and by the time this was done the deadline for the return had passed.

On the time to register the First-tier Tribunal found HMRC had not delayed in responding to the taxpayer’s request for an activation code. However the process could take a couple of days and HMRC delivered its post second-class.

The judge agreed with HMRC that ill health did not ‘of itself’ amount to a reasonable excuse but it could contribute to a short-term delay in a one-off procedure such as acting on...