Tenzing Wangel Lama v The Commissioners for HMRC
Decision date: 20 February 2025
Neutral citation: [2025] UKFTT 243 (TC)
Overall AI summary confidence: medium
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: medium
Mr Lama sought permission to bring a nearly five-year late appeal against Personal Liability Notices transferring company VAT and corporation tax penalties to him. The Tribunal applied the three-stage test for late appeals (length of delay, reasons for delay, and balancing all circumstances), found the delay serious and unsupported by credible evidence of incapacity or good reason, and refused permission because finality, efficiency and prejudice to HMRC outweighed the appellant’s interest.
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
The Tribunal applied a three-stage approach: assess the length of the delay, examine the reasons proffered for that delay (requiring credible, evidential support for claims such as incapacity), and undertake a balancing exercise of all relevant circumstances including prejudice to HMRC and the public interest in finality and efficient administration. A prolonged delay unsupported by medical or other persuasive evidence, particularly where the appellant had handled other tax/business matters, will not justify granting permission for a late appeal.
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 correspondence such as Bankruptcy warning letters containing contact details may be relevant to whether a taxpayer sought available help, and observed that HMRC is not obliged to offer assistance proactively; it also flagged that requests to HMRC to mitigate penalties under s.102 TMA fall outside the Tribunal’s jurisdiction. These observations were not essential to the decision.
Warning
- The chunk contains substantial repetition of material and is somewhat noisy/repetitive. The notes provided are somewhat noisy and repetitive; they appear to summarize the full judgment but may omit fuller factual or reasoning detail.