Finola Owens appealed discovery assessments made under section 29 Taxes Management Act 1970 (TMA 1970) for £24,423.16 in unpaid tax covering five tax years from 2016-17 to 2020-21.

At the First Tier Tribunal (FTT), Owens also appealed five penalty notices for £4,008.54, charged under Schedule 41 of the Finance Act 2008 (FA 2008) for the same period.

The initial HMRC assessments related to undeclared rental income and were sent on 12 December 2022.

At the time, Owens’ tax agent and representative, Jon Vyse, owner of Pearl Lily & Co Accountants, contacted HMRC to present a notice of liability for the 2017 tax year.

However, he asked for the late penalty notice to be removed as ‘we believe our client has a reasonable excuse in that it has taken our client some time to self-assess whether any tax is due and the estimated tax at risk is low. We therefore ask that a late notice penalty not be issued’. 

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