HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) imposed late filing and late payment penalties over the tax years 2010/11 and 2011/12. The appellant appealed. The issues for the First-tier Tribunal (FTT) to consider included whether the appellant had a reasonable excuse for the late filing of her 2010/11 return, and also the late payment of tax for the above years (the FTT did not consider a further appeal against daily penalties for late filing, pending the Upper Tribunal’s decision in Revenue & Customs v Donaldson).
The appellant mistakenly believed that she had successfully filed her 2010/11 tax return online. She also mistakenly believed that she had completed her 2010/11 tax return (when she had instead completed her return for 2011/12), and that her tax liabilities would be collected via PAYE.
The FTT considered case law on the meaning of ‘reasonable excuse’, and rejected the view expressed by some tribunals that
