Private Client Review For July 2023

Speed read

This month, we examine two recent taxpayer losses relating to the concept of ‘reasonable excuse': one (in Archer) regarding the late payment of tax whilst judicial review proceedings were ongoing, and the other (in Hughes Property Partners) involving the late filing of an ATED return. We also comment on the FTT's anonymised decision in Foreign National, where HMRC's request for information was held to be reasonably required and did not amount to a ‘fishing expedition'. In Suterwalla, the taxpayer manages to break HMRC's strong record in SDLT cases with a win relating to mixed use rates. HMRC has started writing to UK resident taxpayers named in the Pandora Papers – we consider the implications for taxpayers. Finally, HMRC statistics show an estimated 99.2% increase in the number of additional rate taxpayers between 2020/21 and 2023/24.