Durnbrae Limited v Commissioners for Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs

Facts

Durnbrae Limited appealed against an employer's penalty of £500 imposed for the late online submission of its P35 return for 2009/2010. The filing date was 19 May 2010, but the return was not submitted online until 6 October 2010. HMRC issued a penalty notice of £400 on 27 September 2010, covering the period from 20 May to 19 September 2010, followed by a final penalty of £100 on 13 October 2010 for the period to 6 October. Mr Thomson, the Appellant's director, appealed to HMRC by letter dated 11 October 2010, explaining that this was the first occasion on which he had filed online, all previous returns having been made on paper, and that he believed the return had been submitted, only discovering his mistake on receipt of the penalty notices. HMRC rejected the appeal on 2 November 2010, finding no reasonable excuse, and on statutory review upheld the penalties by letter of 7 January 2011, noting that HMRC's website explained how to file online and confirmed successful submission. Mr Thomson appealed to the Tribunal on 19 January 2011, adding that the company had only one employee, his daughter, that he was not very computer literate, and that HMRC ought to have told him sooner that the return had not been received. The Tribunal determined the appeal on 18 April 2011 without a hearing, under Rule 26 of the Tribunal Procedure (First-tier Tribunal)(Tax Chamber) Rules 2009.