Interests of justice in reinstating an appeal

In April 2016 HMRC had sent the taxpayer a post-clearance demand note for import VAT of about £3m. The taxpayer instructed its agent to appeal. As a result of the agent using the wrong email address when submitting the appeal notice they did not receive further correspondence relating to the appeal. Ten months later the agent asked about the progress of the appeal and discovered that it had been struck out. They immediately applied for permission to make a late application for reinstatement of the appeal.

The First-tier Tribunal allowed the appeal and HMRC appealed. It said the First-tier Tribunal had erred in law by failing to follow guidance in relation to the stricter approach to compliance with time limits.

The Upper Tribunal agreed with HMRC and decided to remake the decision. It took as its starting point the application for extension. The tribunal said it would focus...