Introduction

If a penalty for failure to notify has been correctly charged by HMRC, the taxpayer can only appeal if they believe they have a ‘reasonable excuse’ for failing to comply with the legislation. This is discussed below. However, even if the Tribunal finds that the taxpayer does not have a reasonable excuse, it may reduce the amount of the penalty payable due to special circumstances. See Simon’s Taxes A4.567D.

For details of the penalties for failure to notify, see the Penalties for failure to notify guidance note.

Reasonable excuse is provided for the late notification for most taxes by FA 2008, Sch 41, para 20. For the full list of taxes to which the rules apply, see the final page of HMRC factsheet CC/FS11.

The term ‘reasonable excuse’ is not defined in the legislation, and therefore the meaning is continually being reassessed by the courts and should be seen ‘in light of all the circumstances of the particular case’.

This guidance note considers the concept of reasonable excuse. For commentary on how to build