Internet connection failure was not a reasonable excuse

The taxpayer appealed against a £100 penalty imposed for its failure to submit a contractor monthly return on time. It said the person making the return thought it had been filed online. However given that HMRC had not received the information the internet connection may have been lost. Further the person who usually helped it with technical problems had been away at the time. It was a small company and could not afford to pay the fine.

The First-tier Tribunal accepted that an internet failure had been the cause of the failed attempt to file the return. However the taxpayer did not explain why the problem continued beyond the date it tried to submit the form. The judge said: ‘A reasonable taxpayer in those circumstances conscious of their tax obligations would have filed the return the following day – they would either have found...