Leap year quirk

Penalties for late filed corporation tax return

HMRC imposed penalties on the taxpayer for the late submission of its corporation tax return.

The company appealed. The First-tier Tribunal accepted that the notice to file was delivered and that the return was filed late. However the judge Richard Thomas did not accept the penalty notices had been issued properly. He said HMRC had issued a £100 late filing penalty two weeks after the deadline for the return. He surmised that by this ‘HMRC must be taken to have concluded that the return was not going to be more than three months late. If it was more than three months late it is arguable that they have by assessing the one and only “penalty” that may be determined under [FA 1998] Sch 18 para 17 precluded themselves from making another determination by virtue of para 17’.

He...