The guidance on when taxpayers have a reasonable excuse for the late filing of tax returns or late tax payments has been updated by HMRC to take into account the effects of coronavirus.
As outlined in the ‘Disagree with a tax decision’ section of the GOV.UK website, appeals can be made against some penalties in certain situations. In addition to those previously listed, coronavirus will now be considered as a reasonable excuse for missing some tax obligations, such as payments or filing date.
HMRC classifies a reasonable excuse as ‘something that stopped you meeting a tax obligation that you took reasonable care to meet’. Examples include:
- The death of a partner or another close relative shortly before the tax return or payment deadline
- An unexpected stay in hospital that prevented tax affairs from being dealt with
- Having had a serious or life-threatening illness
- Computer or software failure just before or while an online return is being prepared
- ‘Service issues’ with HMRC’S online services
- A fire, flood or theft preventing the completion of a tax return
- Postal delays that could not have been predicted
- Delays relating to a personal disability
Also outlined are those excuses that are counted as not being reasonable:
- Relying on someone else to send in a return which they failed to do
- A cheque bouncing or payment failure due to insufficient funds
- Finding the HMRC online system too difficult to use
- Non receipt of a reminder from HMRC
- Making a mistake on the tax return
The full guidance, including the coronavirus update, can be found here.
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