Reasonable excuse for failure to notify

Produced by a Tolley Owner-Managed Businesses expert
Owner-Managed Businesses
Guidance

Reasonable excuse for failure to notify

Produced by a Tolley Owner-Managed Businesses expert
Owner-Managed Businesses
Guidance
imgtext

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

Continue reading the full document
To gain access to additional expert tax guidance, workflow tools, generative tax AI, and tax research, register for a free trial of Tolley+™
Powered by Tolley+

Popular Articles

Married couple’s allowance

Married couple’s allowanceThe married couple’s allowance (MCA) is only available if one of the two spouses or civil partners was born before 6 April 1935. This means that one member of the couple must be at least 89 years old on 5 April 2024 to qualify for an allowance in the 2023/24 tax year.There

14 Jul 2020 12:13 | Produced by Tolley Read more Read more

Winding up a trust ― legal, administrative and compliance issues

Winding up a trust ― legal, administrative and compliance issuesOverviewWhen winding up a trust, there are legal formalities and compliance issues that need to be dealt with, as well as IHT and CGT consequences that flow from the termination. This guidance note considers when and how a trust comes

14 Jul 2020 14:01 | Produced by Tolley Read more Read more

Supplies of goods and services connected with education

Supplies of goods and services connected with educationThis guidance note provides an overview of the VAT treatment of goods and services provided in connection with supplies of education. This should be read in conjunction with the following guidance notes:•Supplies of education•Local authority

14 Jul 2020 13:44 | Produced by Tolley Read more Read more