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Erect Architecture Ltd (TC3076)
The taxpayer company was one day late submitting its VAT return for the period 12/12 making it the business’s third default. HMRC imposed a surcharge at 5% of the tax due.
The firm’s director explained that her daughter had fallen ill during Christmas while in Austria which forced a delay to a return to London.
The director had to carry out a major project on her return to the UK putting great demands on her: the deadlines were tight and she had to work through the whole of January with little time off.
The First-tier Tribunal decided the taxpayer had a reasonable excuse for the late-filed return. Her daughter’s illness and the subsequent delayed return from overseas – creating pressure to complete a work assignment – could not have been foreseen.
The taxpayer’s appeal was allowed.
It is difficult to predict the outcome of reasonable...
