In Benton v HMRC [2018] UKFTT 593 (27 September 2018) the FTT found that it had not been ‘reasonable in all the circumstances’ for the appellants not to comply with follower notices (FA 2014 s 208).
Mr Benton and two other individuals had implemented a tax planning scheme known as ‘working Wheels’ marketed by NT Advisors. HMRC had issued each of them with follower notices but they had each failed to take the corrective action required by the notices. HMRC had therefore imposed a penalty. The maximum penalty was 50% of the ‘denied advantage’ but HMRC had mitigated it down to 30%.
The appellants contended that it was ‘reasonable in all the circumstances’ not to take corrective action as the follower notices contained errors. The FTT found that all the errors referred to were minor and could not justify the setting aside of the penalties. The FTT observed ...
