Hoar Cross Parish Council v Commissioners for Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs
Decision date: 19 May 2011
Neutral citation: [2011] UKFTT 362 (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
Hoar Cross Parish Council appealed a £206 penalty for late filing its P35 employer annual return for 2009/10, claiming the clerk had submitted it online by 19 May 2010 and seen an on‑screen success message. The First-tier Tribunal found on the balance of probabilities that HMRC did not receive or confirm the return by the deadline, rejected the council's reasonable‑excuse plea, and dismissed the appeal, confirming the £206 penalty.
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
An employer's statutory filing obligation is not discharged merely by a bona fide attempt to submit online; filing is complete only when HMRC actually receives and records the return. Where HMRC systems would be expected to produce an on‑screen confirmation and internal record, the absence of such records supports a finding of non‑receipt on the balance of probabilities.
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 HMRC online systems are designed to make it obvious to users whether submission has succeeded, and that evidence of deleted or absent local confirmations, without contemporaneous corroboration, is insufficient to establish receipt by HMRC.
Warning
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