In Winifred Kroen v HMRC [2020] TC7605, the First Tier Tribunal (FTT) found that HMRC’s failure to offer a Statutory Review of a High-Income Child Benefit Charge extended the timetable for making a late appeal.
- The taxpayer failed to calculate and pay the High-Income Child Benefit Charge.
- HMRC raised assessments for the tax years 2014-15 and 2015-16.
- The taxpayer wrote back to say that he was employed and he thought he had paid his taxes.
- HMRC said that this was not a valid ground for appeal and would he make an appeal?
- After several rounds of correspondence in which HMRC repeated the same thing and the taxpayer asked for details of HMRC’s ‘appeals or complaints’ procedure.
- Eventually, HMRC wrote acknowledging that the taxpayer had made an appeal and gave details on how to appeal to a tribunal.
- After more correspondence and a delay of almost a year, the taxpayer finally appealed against the assessments to the tribunal.
This stage of the appeal concerned only whether the taxpayer met the conditions to make a late appeal.
The FTT found that:
- HMRC had accepted that the taxpayer had made an appeal to HMRC.
- HMRC had not offered a Statutory Review.
Accordingly, the Statutory Review legislation set no time limit as to Mr Kroen’s notification of his appeal to the tribunal and the late appeal was allowed.
Comment
Mr Kroen now moves on to the next stage of the appeal.
Useful guides
High-income Child Benefit Charge (HICBC)
What is the High-Income Child Benefit Charge? Who pays it? Can you appeal against an assessment? Are there any useful cases from the tax tribunals?
Penalties: failure to notify
What tax penalties apply if you fail to declare tax?
How to appeal a tax penalty
What are the steps in making an appeal? What should your appeal cover? What does recent case law say on this topic?
Statutory Review
What is a Statutory Review? Is it automatic? What happens in a Statutory Review? Can you challenge a Statutory Review's findings? Can you influence a Statutory Review?
Late Appeals
When can you make a late tax appeal? What conditions must be met?
Discovery assessment and time limits
What is a Discovery Assessment? When can HMRC make a Discovery? What are the time limits for Discovery Assessment? Details, examples and current case law and developments
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