The taxpayer company was charged penalties by HMRC for late payment of Pay As You Earn (PAYE) deductions. The penalties under appeal related to months 4-11.

The company contested the accuracy of HMRC’s records showing the dates when cheque payments were logged. HMRC's case was that the logging date was the received date. HMRC treated the received date as the ‘effective date of payment’ (EDP). The company's evidence was that its cheques were generally sent by first class post to ensure that HMRC received them by the 19th of each month.

The First-tier Tribunal (FTT) accepted the company's evidence that the dates of its cheques were the dates on which they were posted by first class post to HMRC. The FTT also accepted that the Post Office’s stated aim is to deliver 93% of first class post by the next day. The FTT was unable to find on the evidence that the EDP reliably reflected the actual date of receipt by HMRC. The FTT therefore considered that