Information notice is reasonable

The taxpayer owned a company. After an investigation HMRC found the taxpayer had received payments into his personal bank account which did not come from the company. The taxpayer said the cash deposits were from friends to help him meet the costs of living to repay other loans and as loans taken out on behalf of other people. HMRC started an investigation in to his personal tax affairs and requested personal and company bank statements for the period from November 2014 to October 2015. The taxpayer provided these after a delay of 16 to 18 months.

HMRC then enquired into the taxpayer’s 2016-17 tax return and issued an information notice (FA 2008 Sch 36) requiring bank and credit card statements for the periods April 2014 to October 2014 and November 2015 to April 2017.

The taxpayer appealed against the notice saying he had already provided information which had...