In Schotten & Hansen (UK) v HMRC [2017] UKFTT 191 (28 February 2017) the FTT found that a taxpayer unfamiliar with the tax system and who had relied on an international firm of accountants had established a reasonable excuse for their failure to file a CIS return.
The appellant supply and fit wooden flooring using sub-contractors for the fitting. HMRC checked their CIS records and discovered that they had not operated the CIS on the basis that the work was done by fitters supplied by a German company which was the appellant’s only relevant sub-contractor. HMRC disagreed with that approach and they issued penalty notices.
The appellant argued that they had a reasonable excuse as they had no reason to believe that a German sub-contractor would fall within the CIS. Furthermore they had taken professional advice from the outset.
The FTT observed that a mistake made...
