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Introduction

If a penalty for late payment of tax has been correctly charged by HMRC, the taxpayer can only appeal if they believe they have a ‘reasonable excuse’ for failing to comply with the legislation. This is discussed below. However, even if the Tribunal finds that the taxpayer does not have a reasonable excuse, it may reduce the amount of the penalty payable due to special circumstances. See Simon’s Taxes A4.567D.

For details of the penalties for late payment of tax, see the Late payment penalties under self assessment and Late payment penalties for PAYE/NIC guidance notes.

The term ‘reasonable excuse’ is not defined in the legislation and therefore the meaning is continually being reassessed by the courts and should be seen ‘in light of all the circumstances of the particular case’.

This guidance note considers the concept of reasonable excuse. For commentary on how to build a case for reasonable excuse, see the Winning reasonable excuse cases guidance note.

HMRC’s view

HMRC considers a reasonable excuse to be ‘something that stops a person