Permission to appeal granted on single ground

The taxpayer had applied to the First-tier Tribunal to be permitted to make a late appeal against discovery assessments for the years 2009-10 to 2010-11. The tribunal refused so he appealed to the Upper Tribunal.

The judge decided to grant permission on a single ground - that it was ‘at least arguable’ that the taxpayer’s appeal against the discovery assessments was made in time in which case he would not need permission to bring a late appeal and the tribunal had made a mistake of law in refusing permission that he did not need.

However the judge said the lower tribunal ‘had an unenviable task’. The case was decided on the papers without a hearing and the taxpayer’s affairs were in a state of ‘some confusion’. Indeed the tribunal had to consider a documents bundle running to 720 pages. Given the judge believed the taxpayer had a strong case...