Evidence required
The appellant elected under FA 2002, s 98 to treat gift aid payments made after 5 April 2003, as made in the previous year. By mistake, the payments related and allowed for 2002-03 exceeded the total payments made in 2003-04. Therefore, HMRC opened an enquiry into the appellant's return. A list of payments was sent, and HMRC asked to see evidence of their payment. Evidence was provided for a proportion only, as evidence of payments related back and allowed for the previous year was not required.
HMRC issued a TMA 1970, s 19A notice requiring evidence, so the taxpayer appealed.
The Special Commissioner considered that the total gift aid payments were included in the return, so the enquiry related to all of them. It was reasonable for HMRC to require evidence in order to determine if the return was correct.
The taxpayer's appeal was dismissed.
Eder (SpC 592)