Heronslea Ltd v Commissioners for Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs
Decision date: 3 February 2011
Neutral citation: [2011] UKFTT 102 (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
Heronslea Ltd appealed a £100 CIS late-filing penalty for the month ended 5 June 2010, asserting the monthly return had been posted in time; HMRC recorded receipt on 22 June 2010 and contended the filing was late. The First-tier Tribunal accepted the director’s credible evidence about the company’s regular practice and holiday-related posting, found the return was posted by no later than 14 June 2010, and concluded HMRC had not rebutted the statutory presumption of delivery in the ordinary course of post, allowing the appeal and setting aside the 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
Where a taxpayer adduces credible evidence that a document was posted in the ordinary course of post, the Interpretation Act 1978 s.7 gives rise to a presumption that delivery occurred in the ordinary course; the recipient (here HMRC) bears the burden of rebutting that presumption and, absent sufficient evidence to the contrary, the tribunal may accept the taxpayer’s evidence of posting and deem delivery to have occurred.
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 decision notes that HMRC’s practice of asking for proof of posting in postal-delay appeals is administratively permissible but does not displace the statutory presumption; the tribunal also observed that first-class post is generally expected to arrive within one or two days, which informs expectations about ordinary-course delivery timelines.