Late return

Reliance on professional firm to submit form

The taxpayer was late submitting a land and buildings transaction tax return. No tax was due. Revenue Scotland imposed penalties including daily fines under RSTPA 2014 s 161(2). The taxpayer appealed against the daily penalties. In essence the taxpayer’s solicitor said a former employee was to blame for failing to file the return. She had left the firm and it had since reviewed its systems to ensure returns were logged on time in future.

The First-tier Tribunal for Scotland said the fact that no tax was due was irrelevant. The taxpayer was responsible for complying with the regime and did not have a reasonable excuse for the delay. However the judge said there would be ‘significant unfairness’ if the taxpayer had to pay the whole penalty. The failure of the employee of the solicitor to file the form came...