The First-tier Tribunal has dismissed an appeal against income tax self-assessment late filing penalties in respect of the tax year 2019-20 (Eleonu v HMRC [2023] UKFTT 109 (TC)).
- The appellant had contested “it is illegal to ask me who is a waged umbrella employee to submit a self-assessment form to the HM Revenue, as I already have both PAYE and National Insurance deductions from my wages every week”. The tribunal noted ““we find that the respondent is entitled to satisfy itself that no tax is due by requiring a tax return to be completed”.
- The appellant stated that she had been a victim of domestic violence and consequently had moved a number of times. While sympathising the tribunal stated “we were not, though, provided with any documentary evidence in that respect nor with any specific information as to how that may have impacted upon the capacity of the appellant to file a self-assessment tax return for 2019-20. Neither was domestic violence mentioned in the grounds of appeal”. The tribunal also found that she was living at the address where the notice to file had been sent to at the time of its delivery.
- The appellant claimed she did not know how to complete a self-assessment tax return and was genuinely ignorant of the process to be followed. Nevertheless, having received assistance from Citizens Advice in November 2020, she had completed a self-assessment tax return for the tax year 2019-20 and sent it to HMRC. The tribunal noted that in seeking help she had clearly been made aware at that point in time of what she needed to do with respect to filing. However, the appellant had no documentary evidence that she had actually filed a return and HMRC had no record of receiving it.
The tribunal concluded that the late filing penalties had been charged in accordance with legislation and no reasonable excuse has been shown. There were no special circumstances which would allow the penalties to be reduced under the special reduction provisions.
The appeal was dismissed and the penalties upheld.
https://www.bailii.org/uk/cases/UKFTT/TC/2023/TC08726.html
Related content from Claritax Books
Income Tax is a substantial single-volume guide to all the income tax issues commonly faced by most accountants and tax practitioners.
