Penalties for failure to file nil returns

HMRC issued late filing penalties to the taxpayer because it had not filed quarterly employment intermediary returns. The taxpayer appealed. The director said the company had no self-employed workers for the relevant periods and assumed that ‘like VAT if a return was required he would be notified’. 

HMRC said the GOV.UK website ‘clearly’ showed that an agency must file a nil report if it has not supplied workers.

The First-tier Tribunal reviewed HMRC’s evidence of the guidance. The judge concluded that it was ‘not immediately obvious how someone with no tax knowledge would even find the web pages that HMRC refer to whether or not they are clear’. In his view the taxpayer had a reasonable excuse for not filing the returns because of the ‘invisibility and complexity of the web pages’. 

In addition the taxpayer claimed reliance on a third party expert as a reasonable excuse....