Gentiana Zefi v The Commissioners for HMRC
Decision date: 28 January 2026
Neutral citation: [2026] UKFTT 178 (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 discovery assessments and failure-to-notify penalties under the Taxes Management Act 1970 and Schedule 41 for High Income Child Benefit Charge (HICBC) liability after Ms Zefi continued to claim Child Benefit once her income exceeded £50,000. The Tribunal remade its earlier decision, holding HMRC validly made discovery assessments in time, that Child Benefit Office (CBO) staff can be "officers of the Board" for s7 TMA purposes, but that notice under s7 must be in writing and a telephone call did not satisfy that requirement. Because Ms Zefi did not give the required written notice, had no reasonable excuse, the penalties and assessments were upheld and the appeal dismissed.
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 decision establishes that where the Income Tax Acts' definition of "notice" applies, notice under TMA s7 must be given in writing; an oral telephone communication (even if transcribed by HMRC) does not meet the statutory written-notice requirement. It also accepts that CBO staff who meet the CRCA appointment criteria can be "officers of the Board" such that a communication to them can in principle constitute notice to an officer.
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: high
The Tribunal observed that imperfect data-sharing between HMRC departments does not prevent an officer from making a valid discovery by cross-referencing CBO and PAYE records, and that an HMRC-written record of a taxpayer's oral communication does not fulfil a statutory obligation requiring the taxpayer personally to give written notice.