The taxpayer’s agent could not delegate the preparation and submission of a tax return without the taxpayer’s authority, and HMRC’s discovery assessment could not be made to recover lost tax by the fraudulent conduct of a sub-agent.

The appellant lost his job in July 2015 and undertook some work earning about £2,500. He needed to file a tax return for 2015/16 and knew an individual (SB), a director of a tax consultancy firm (A). He appointed A (not SB) to act as his agent and make the return, and handed the information concerning his affairs to SB.

A purported self-assessment return was sent to HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) by another firm (C) in