Failure to comply with information notice

HMRC opened an enquiry into the taxpayer’s 2016-17 tax return to check a claim for subsistence and training expenditure. It issued an information notice (FA 2008 Sch 36) with which the taxpayer failed to comply fully. The officer therefore issued a penalty and the taxpayer appealed. HMRC also issued closure notices disallowing the claims.

The First-tier Tribunal said it was clear the taxpayer had not provided all the information required in the information notice. The judge did not accept the taxpayer’s excuses as reasonable. These included that the taxpayer claimed he had already been ‘put to considerable inconvenience extra cost and wasted time’ because of HMRC’s inability to ‘adequately administer’ its system. He had tried without success to contact the relevant officer and no one had been deputised to deal with it. In addition he had other ‘urgent’ matters to attend to. The tribunal said no details had...