Too late

Insufficient excuse for a late appeal

On 31 May 2013 the taxpayer was assessed to capital gains tax on a share disposal in 2010-11. No appeal was made against the assessment until 17 June 2016. HMRC refused to accept a late appeal and referred the matter to the First-tier Tribunal for a determination of whether this should be admitted.

The tribunal reviewed the facts. The taxpayer was resident in Spain and there was contradictory evidence of what had passed between him and HMRC. The taxpayer claimed not to have received the assessment but there was a record of his having called an HMRC enquiry centre about the assessment. HMRC said it had sent the assessment to the taxpayer’s last known UK address. The judge said the department’s attempts to contact the taxpayer might be thought to have been a little half-hearted but it was wrong to put...