Shadi Fardjadnia v The Commissioners for HMRC
Decision date: 24 October 2024
Neutral citation: [2024] UKFTT 958 (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 challenged HMRC’s penalties for late filing of the appellant’s 2021/22 self-assessment return; HMRC’s records showed the return was not recorded until 12 October 2023 whereas the appellant said she filed before the 31 January 2023 deadline but had no submission receipt. The Tribunal found on the balance of probabilities the return was not submitted by the deadline, that the appellant’s honest but mistaken belief she had filed was not objectively reasonable, and that any reasonable excuse had ended and was not remedied without unreasonable delay. The appeal was dismissed and the prescribed penalties totaling £1,300 were upheld.
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
The Tribunal treated the absence of a submission receipt or contemporaneous evidence as materially undermining a taxpayer’s claim of having filed online before the system-recorded date, and held that an honest belief that a return was filed can be insufficient where objectively essential information (here, self-employment details) was not entered so the return could not have been properly 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 noted that general acknowledgements by HMRC advisers that system failures sometimes occur do not suffice without specific evidence of a relevant failure, and observed that a taxpayer’s demonstrated prior ability to engage with HMRC and to challenge penalties, coupled with prolonged failure to remedy after formal notice, weakens a reasonable-excuse defence.