- New penalties regime for late submission and late payment of VAT returns from 1 January 2023
- Taxpayer may not be liable to penalty if they establish a reasonable excuse for lateness
- Lack of funds or reliance on another person generally not considered a reasonable excuse
- First-tier Tribunal case involving taxpayer experiencing difficulties with VAT returns during COVID pandemic
- Taxpayer advised by HMRC to have ‘opening balances’ for VAT returns, later found out it was not necessary
- Taxpayer hired new bookkeeper and submitted returns for relevant periods
- FTT held taxpayer had a reasonable excuse and reduced penalties to zero due to special circumstances and HMRC’s incorrect advice
Source: taxscape.deloitte.com
Note that this post was (partially) written with the help of AI. It is always useful to review the original source material, and where needed to obtain (local) advice from a specialist.
