United Kingdom VAT & Duties Tribunals Decisions

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You are here: BAILII >> Databases >> United Kingdom VAT & Duties Tribunals Decisions >> Raby v Revenue & Customs [2007] UKVAT V20341 (12 September 2007)
URL: http://www.bailii.org/uk/cases/UKVAT/2007/V20341.html
Cite as: [2007] UKVAT V20341

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Philip Francis Raby v Revenue & Customs [2007] UKVAT V20341 (12 September 2007)

20341

Value Added Tax - Default Surcharge - Failure to file return alleged to result from failure by HMRC to record information about the trader's change of address and consequent failure to send him forms at the correct address - Appeal dismissed

LONDON TRIBUNAL CENTRE

PHILIP FRANCIS RABY Appellant

and –

THE COMMISSIONERS FOR HER MAJESTY'S REVENUE & CUSTOMS Respondents

Tribunal: HOWARD M. NOWLAN (Chairman)

SHEILA EDMONDSON FCA

Sitting in public in London on 5 September 2007

The Appellant was not represented or present at the hearing

Simon Chambers of HMRC's Solicitors' Office on behalf of the Respondents

© CROWN COPYRIGHT 2007


 


DECISION

1. This was a default surcharge appeal against a surcharge of £89.03, based on the 10% rate of surcharge for the VAT period 08/06. Whilst the trader did not appear in person, his claim that he had a reasonable excuse for the late filing was based on the contention that he had not been sent the relevant forms at his new address by HMRC, and that for approximately two years he had been indicating to HMRC that his address had changed.
2. The Appellant had apparently moved address from one house called Barley Brae in Blackboy Lane, Fishbourne, West Sussex, to another house in the same lane, called Oakside. He claimed that he had repeatedly notified HMRC of this change of address, though there was no record that HMRC had received any such notification. He indicated that correspondence in the intervening period had usually been re-directed by the postman who knew that the Appellant had simply moved from one side of the road to the other. Nevertheless the Appellant did not receive the forms for submission of his VAT Return for the period 08/06, and he claimed that his failure to make his return and pay his VAT liability on time resulted from the reasonable excuse that he had not received the forms and that for the two years he had been trying to notify HMRC of his change of address.
3. We dismissed this Appeal on the following grounds:-

•    The Appellant had been registered for VAT purposes for 10 years and would have been well aware of his liability to submit returns and payments on time. It would admittedly have been very remiss of HMRC if they had failed to note a notification of change of address but the trader could very easily have telephoned his VAT office and asked for the forms;

•    The previous observation appears all the more pertinent if the Appellant knew that VAT forms were being sent to the wrong address, and being re-directed by the postman;

•    We are curious about the suggestion that the Appellant had been notifying his change of address to Oakside for two years because almost exactly two years before the return for the period 08/06 was due his accountants had sent in a formal change of address notification but this was from one of the Appellant's yet earlier addresses to "Barley Brae", rather than from "Barley Brae" to "Oakside". It may of course be the case that he moved in and out of Barley Brae almost simultaneously but there was no information about this.

•    Finally, whilst of course the Appellant's contention is that HMRC lost and ignored his notifications of change of address, HMRC did reiterate that they had received no such notification. We also note that on the only copy we have of any intermediate paperwork, HMRC had received the Appellant's VAT return for the period 11/05 on 16 January 06, with no correction made by the Appellant to the address shown on the form, namely still to "Barley Brae".

HOWARD M. NOWLAN

CHAIRMAN

RELEASED: 12 September 2007

LON/2006/1331