Property sale

Reliance on tax adviser

The taxpayer lived in Australia and had done for the time covered in the appeal. He sold a flat in the UK but because it had been his main residence no capital gains tax was due. He should have filed a non-resident capital gains tax return within a month of the sale but was unaware of this requirement. He submitted the form more than a year later and HMRC imposed penalties.

The taxpayer appealed saying he had not known about the need to file a return for the property sale but he had always relied on his UK tax adviser to deal with his affairs. Further the solicitor handling the sale had not mentioned the requirement to file a return within 30 days of the disposal.

The First-tier Tribunal noted that there had been ‘a divergence of view’ on similar appeals...