Postal address on penalty notices was wrong

The taxpayer appealed against penalties for late payment of accelerated payment notices. It claimed never to have received the notices and became aware of them only when the penalty notices were received.

The First-tier Tribunal said the accelerated payment notices were not properly addressed. Indeed, part of the address HMRC used was not even a real place. As a result, the deemed delivery provisions of Interpretation Act 1978, s 7 did not apply. HMRC had not met the burden of proof to show the notices were sent to the taxpayer. On the balance of probabilities, the tribunal concluded that the taxpayer had not received the accelerated payment notices so it discharged the penalties.

The taxpayer’s appeal was allowed.

Issue: 4727 / Categories: Tax cases