Peter Donaghy v Commissioners for Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs
Decision date: 3 May 2011
Neutral citation: [2011] UKFTT 283 (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 a £500 employer penalty for late filing of a P35 for 2009/2010; the return was filed online on 11 October 2010 instead of by 19 May 2010. The appellant relied on cessation of trading, prior payment of PAYE/NIC and issuance of P45s, and asserted no loss to revenue and no benefit obtained. The First-tier Tribunal found no reasonable excuse, held the statutory penalties were lawfully imposed, and dismissed the appeal.
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 controlling principle as that where statute mandates penalties for late returns the Tribunal has no power to remit them except where a taxpayer can establish a statutory "reasonable excuse"; ceasing to trade and having paid PAYE/NIC and issued P45s does not of itself discharge the statutory obligation to submit the end-of-year return by the filing date.
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 an absence of correspondence or reminder from HMRC, absence of actual loss to the Revenue, and absence of intention to benefit do not, by themselves, constitute a reasonable excuse for late filing.
Warning
This chunk includes substantial repeated passages of the same material, making it somewhat repetitive. Notes include substantial repetition and therefore may be noisy, though no specific material gaps are indicated.