The First-tier Tribunal allowed the taxpayer’s appeal against penalties in Kensall v HMRC [2023] UKFTT 11 (TC).
The FTT upheld the underlying assessments but invited HMRC to exercise their powers of care and management.
The taxpayer was not financially sophisticated and had no knowledge of the tax system. For 40 years, his only interactions with HMRC had been changed to his coding notices. The FTT found as a fact that the taxpayer completed his calculations to the best of his knowledge and ability, and added:
“In my judgment, it is objectively reasonable for a financially unsophisticated taxpayer in the position of Mr Kensall not to have realised he had to add his benefits-in-kind to the figures shown on his P60, and to have miscalculated and/or misapplied any pension deductions. When Mr Kensall received the letter of 19 April 2021 from Ms Larkin, he called HMRC immediately and paid the tax. I find that he acted without unreasonable delay.”
https://www.bailii.org/uk/cases/UKFTT/TC/2023/TC08673.html
Related content from Claritax Books
In Tax Appeals – Law and Practice at the FTT, tax barrister Keith Gordon analyses some 500 precedents to show how the FTT rules are applied in practice, and how taxpayers may use the tribunal system for appealing against tax decisions.
