TC09622 - [2025] UKFTT 01232 (TC)

HMRC contends that allowing a late appeal in these circumstances would prejudice the efficient administration of justice and divert resources from cases where taxpayers have complied with statutory deadlines. HMRC should be able to rely on statutory time limits for the purposes of allocating resources. For Mr Ahya, it was contended that HMRC had not shown that they had taken any action between the deadline and the date the appeals as received, so that there could be no costs implications to HMRC of the late appeal being accepted.

On balance, we consider that the prejudice to HMRC is not unusual and, given the relatively short delay, not something that needs to be afforded any particular weight.

The prejudice to Mr Ahya is obvious but not particularly unusual in cases which seek to permission to appeal out of time: if permission is not given, he will not be able to challenge assessments which amount to significant sums (although we were not provided with any clear documentary evidence to indicate what effect this might have on Mr Ahya). However, we also note that the assessments were raised after Mr Ahya failed to provide any information to HMRC in the course of an enquiry spanning considerably more than a year, even after being issued with a Schedule 36 Notice and despite being granted repeated extensions of time to provide the required information.