Unforeseeable complications

The taxpayer business did not file its 2010/11 employer return – due on 19 May 2011 – until December 2011. HMRC imposed late-filing penalties.

The company secretary appealed saying she was the person responsible for filing the return and had been on maternity leave at the time the document was due. There had been complications with the birth and she had not been able to return to the office until late 2011.

Additional problems were caused when the firm’s hard drive was damaged resulting in the loss of the entire database.

The First-tier Tribunal noted the company’s PAYE payments and company tax were up to date – and the company secretary’s pregnancy may have been a foreseeable event but the complications could not have been predicted.

This constituted reasonable excuse for the late-filed return said the judge who added that HMRC’s failure to issue penalties before...