Evidence of valid notice to file a return

The taxpayer had filed self-assessment tax returns from 2007-08 to 2014-15. He filed his 2015-16 return late so HMRC imposed penalties. The taxpayer appealed.

The First-tier Tribunal said HMRC was ‘implicitly’ asking the judge ‘to infer that … a s 8(1)(a) notice’ had been given to the taxpayer to file a return. The judge said there was nothing to show that an HMRC officer had issued a letter. The department’s records showed only that a notice to file had been issued. There was nothing on the computer printouts to indicate that an officer had given the notice. The judge noted that other letters from HMRC did provide a specific signature so it seemed the department was ‘perfectly capable of providing evidence of letters executed by either an unidentified officer or an identified officer’.

He said HMRC was asking him to ‘speculate’ that a notice to file had been given by...