Our monthly roundup of significant tax cases from Donaldson losing the argument at Upper Tribunal over late filing penalties, qualifying trading company test not satisfied in Branagan, LZW fined over SDLT avoidance scheme, devolving tax powers to Northern Ireland and structural weaknesses at Office for Tax Simplification hamper progress on tax reform
Case report: late filing penalties decision overturned in Morgan
In the case of Revenue & Customs v Donaldson [2014] UKUT 536 (TCC), the Upper Tribunal has overturned a First Tier Tribunal (FTT) decision on daily penalties for the late filing of a self assessment tax return (Morgan & Anor v Revenue & Customs [2013] UKFTT 317 (TC)).
Mr Donaldson submitted his 2010–11 paper tax return on 1 May 2012 which was six months and one day late. HMRC issued various penalties under Finance Act 2009 (FA 2009), Sch 55 including a late filing penalty of £100, daily penalties of £900, and a further late filing penalty of £300 because the return was more than six months late.
Donaldson appealed to the FTT. On appeal, the FTT dismissed Donaldson’s appeals against the £100 and £300 penalties as he did not have a reasonable excuse for the delay in filing and did not find that he had any special circumstances.
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