Evidence must be cogent and comprehendible

HMRC imposed late filing penalties on the taxpayer because she had failed to file her self assessment tax return. The taxpayer said she had not received the notices of the penalties so they were not valid. She appealed.

The First-tier Tribunal was surprised that HMRC had not produced any certificates in accordance with Income and Corporation Taxes (Electronic Communications) Regulations 2003 reg 6. This allows HMRC to provide the tribunal with a document purporting to be a certified copy of the notice which is presumed to be evidence unless the taxpayer can prove otherwise. In effect this shifts the burden of proof that a notice has been served from HMRC to the taxpayer.

Instead it seemed to the tribunal that HMRC wished to prove the point from ‘first principles’. The judge said the material the department produced was ‘to put it mildly difficult to comprehend’. In essence...