It's official: HMRC writes "ridiculous" "nonsense"

Given this is a fun blog it's not usual for me to reference the decision in a tax tribunal. But it was impossible to resist when I heard about what the tribunal said.

Mr South was appealing against a late filing penalty in respect of his tax return for 2012/13.  HMRC claimed to have sent him a notice requiring him to file the return in question. The computer then sent an automatic penalty which was what alerted Mr South to the need to file the return.

He was reluctant to pay the late filing penalty as he had not received a 'notice to file' and had not been required to file returns every year in the recent past. 

Mr South then received a rejection of his appeal sent by an official from HMRC who said: 

“On reviewing I can see that no evidence to date has been received confirming that you did not receive a tax return or notice to file.”

In reaching their decision that Mr South did NOT need to pay the penalty the Tribunal said:

The result of [Mr South's] appeal is a piece of nonsense and shows that the appeal was not properly considered by HMRC. It is ridiculous to expect the appellant to produce evidence to show he did not receive the tax return or notice to file. 

Steven Maurice South vs HMRC -12 August 2014