Agents who submitted incorrect expenses claims without the taxpayer having approved the tax returns were acting on the taxpayer’s behalf, and the agents acted deliberately in submitting tax returns containing the excessive and unallowable expenses claims. 

The appellant was a driver for couriers, UPS. Several of his colleagues had previously been approached by a company (Apostle), which offered to obtain ‘tax rebates’ relating to the cleaning of uniforms and subsistence expenses. The colleagues successfully received payments of around £3,000 each. The appellant approached Apostle and asked them to check whether he was due a tax rebate.  

Subsequently, Apostle sent ‘calculations’ to the appellant. He approved the tax amount shown as due to him. Apostle did not send tax returns to the appellant for approval. On 20 November 2020, HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) received tax returns for the appellant for/