Alix Hill looks at the meaning of ‘reasonable excuse’ when considering errors giving rise to potential tax penalties.
‘Reasonable excuse’ can be used as a defence against a number of HMRC penalties across various taxes. What this means in practice is now becoming clearer based on recent case law, and professional advisers need to appreciate the probable approach that HMRC and the tax tribunals may take in future appeals.
What is reasonable excuse?
Under the late filing penalty provisions of FA 2009, Sch 55, para 23, a person will not be liable to a HMRC penalty if they have a reasonable excuse for the failure that gave rise to the penalty and they remedy that failure without ‘unreasonable delay’ after the excuse has ended.
There is no
