Time in gaol is no reasonable excuse

After an enquiry the taxpayer admitted he had income from properties. In February 2020 HMRC issued assessments for the years 2002-03 and 2004-05 to 2017-18 along with penalties.

The taxpayer appealed. He said the assessments included income from employment and pensions which he had not received. But more to the point the assessments included years while he was in prison (December 2002 to December 2012) and as he was not allowed to operate a business while he was incarcerated he could not be responsible for his agent’s failures to deal with his tax affairs.

The First-tier Tribunal said there was no statutory exemption from tax for people in prison. Further even if the prison authorities did forbid the taxpayer from conducting a business while in custody he had appointed an estate agent to deal with his properties and continued to be beneficially entitled to...