Elizabeth Green v The Commissioners for HMRC
Decision date: 4 November 2022
Neutral citation: [2022] UKFTT 405 (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
Mrs Green sought permission to file appeals against four HMRC income tax assessments issued 17 January 2020 but notified those appeals about ten months late. The First-tier Tribunal applied the Denton/Martland three-stage approach, found the delay serious and significant, rejected reliance on her accountant as a good reason for the delay, and refused permission to admit the late appeals.
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: medium
A substantial (almost ten-month) delay in notifying an appeal requires a good reason to excuse the missed 30‑day statutory deadline; in this case failures by the taxpayer’s adviser did not amount to a good reason and the appeals were therefore not admitted. Receipt of the assessments by the taxpayer starts the time for appeal running, and whether HMRC copied an agent is irrelevant where the taxpayer and the agent were aware of the assessments.
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 observed that exceptions to treating adviser failings as the appellant’s failings could exist where the appellant was actively misled by the adviser, but no such exceptional circumstances were found here. The tribunal also noted that the large amount of tax at stake does not, by itself, justify excusing a substantial unexplained delay.