Alleged failure to submit return: whether a reasonable excuse
In R Fergus v HMRC (TC02452 – 24 January) an individual (F) appealed against a penalty imposed for failure to submit his 2009/10 tax return contending that he had submitted it online on 27 January 2011. Judge Khan allowed his appeal observing that F had given the precise time and day of filing and that ‘it was clear that he had used HMRC’s computers to calculate his tax liability on the same day’. He had ‘received replies which related to his online filing which suggested to him that the filing was completed’. It appeared ‘possible that the error lay with HMRC’s online computer facility dealing with online filing’. F ‘genuinely and honestly believed that he had completed the online filing’ so that the circumstances constituted a reasonable excuse.
Alleged failure to submit return: whether a reasonable excuse
In R Fergus v HMRC (TC02452 – 24 January) an individual (F) appealed against a penalty imposed for failure to submit his 2009/10 tax return contending that he had submitted it online on 27 January 2011. Judge Khan allowed his appeal observing that F had given the precise time and day of filing and that ‘it was clear that he had used HMRC’s computers to calculate his tax liability on the same day’. He had ‘received replies which related to his online filing which suggested to him that the filing was completed’. It appeared ‘possible that the error lay with HMRC’s online computer facility dealing with online filing’. F ‘genuinely and honestly believed that he had completed the online filing’ so that the circumstances constituted a reasonable excuse.
