What does 'reasonable excuse' mean to the taxman?

A number of tax tribunal decisions every year revolve around HMRC’s interpretation of reasonable excuse, but it is the Upper Tribunal decisions which are important to watch. Meg Wilson CTA, specialist tax writer at Croner-i Tax and Accounting, examines the options for taxpayers considering an appeal and use of the reasonable excuse defence

2018 saw numerous First Tier Tribunal (FTT) penalty appeals decided based on whether the taxpayer had a ‘reasonable excuse’. Many of these reasonable excuse cases are interesting and can help when deciding whether a taxpayer’s circumstances warrant an appeal. However, given that FTT decisions are not binding, any lessons to be learnt are limited.

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