The Cove Fish & Chip Restaurant Ltd v Commissioners for Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs
Decision date: 22 September 2011
Neutral citation: [2011] UKFTT 625 (TC)
Overall AI summary confidence: high
Short overview
This short overview is intended to summarise the case, issues and outcome so far as they are supported by the judgment.
AI confidence in this short overview: high
The Cove Fish & Chip Restaurant Ltd appealed HMRC penalties of £700 for filing its 2009/10 P35 late (due 19 May 2010, filed online 30 November 2010). The company relied on a stressed bookkeeper who had told them the forms were filed; the Tribunal accepted the bookkeeper was under stress but found the appellant did not establish a "reasonable excuse" under s.118(2) TMA and had not shown it took all reasonable steps. The penalties were confirmed and the appeal dismissed.
Ratio decidendi
This summary is intended to identify the ratio decidendi, meaning the legal reasons for deciding and the binding part of the decision.
AI confidence in this ratio decidendi summary: high
Reliance on a third party such as a bookkeeper will not, without more, relieve an employer of the statutory obligation to file returns on time; where no specialist tax expertise is required to perform or check a filing, employers are expected to ensure filings are made and to take alternative arrangements if they know of agent incapacity.
Obiter dicta
This summary is intended to identify obiter dicta, meaning observations made by the way that were not necessary to deciding the case and are not binding.
AI confidence in this obiter dicta summary: medium
The Tribunal noted that reliance on a third party can, in some circumstances, amount to a reasonable excuse—particularly where specialist advice is required—but that mistakes by an agent avoidable by proper care are unlikely to excuse the taxpayer. These observations were presented as explanatory rather than dispositive of the appeal.