Christopher Legg v The Commissioners for HMRC
Decision date: 20 November 2023
Neutral citation: [2023] UKFTT 994 (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
This appeal concerned Schedule 41 penalties for failure to notify liability to the High-Income Child Benefit Charge for 2018‑19 and 2019‑20. The Tribunal found the appellant was in statutory default, rejected his claimed reasonable excuses (including ignorance and non-receipt of post), found no special circumstances, and upheld HMRC's penalty calculations. The appeal was dismissed and the penalties of £519.60 were confirmed.
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
Where a person liable to HICBC is not under self-assessment they must notify liability and failure to do so constitutes statutory default under the TMA, exposing them to Schedule 41 penalties if HMRC proves default; reductions for prompted, non-deliberate disclosure are possible but cannot go below statutory minima and payment on carelessness-based disclosure relief does not require an assessment to have been made.
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 indicated that HMRC is not under a statutory duty to notify taxpayers generally of changes in the law and that statutory or general publicity does not create such a duty; it also observed that ordinary ignorance of the law will not ordinarily amount to a reasonable excuse absent exceptional factors (such as incapacity).