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Many businesses experienced a very tough time during the COVID-19 pandemic, and some have had compliance failures due to this. Citing the pandemic as a reason for compliance failures was recently put to the test in a Tax Tribunal case.
Mr Kiernander submitted an appeal after the official deadline and asked that it should nevertheless be accepted due to ‘difficulties caused by the pandemic’ (including ‘restricted interactions with advisors, disruptions to interstaff communications, office closures and post not being collected for long periods’).
HMRC argued that taxpayers shouldn’t be able to use COVID as an excuse unless they can show the effect of the pandemic on their individual circumstances, and the Tribunal agreed: it found in favour of HMRC.
Henderson Loggie has generally found HMRC to be fairly understanding of the effect that COVID has had on businesses, and will accept that it has contributed to relatively minor compliance issues and oversights, but this case demonstrates that there are limits to that understanding.
Taxpayers are currently facing considerable delays and frustrations in their dealings with HMRC, however (for example, very long waits for repayments) – if you are experiencing difficulty with delays or you would like your tax matters reviewed, please get in contact with us.