In C Carpenter v HMRC [2016] UKFTT 262 (19 April 2016) the FTT rejected an application for closure notice but encouraged the taxpayer to submit a further application should HMRC escalate the enquiry.
HMRC opened an enquiry into Ms Carpenter’s return; and she refused to provide the requested information before applying for a closure notice.
As Ms Carpenter was seriously ill she contended that HMRC should exercise its power to close the enquiry on humanitarian grounds particularly since it had given no reasons to open the enquiry.
The FTT found however that HMRC was entitled to check a return by opening an enquiry and that it required information from the taxpayer in order to carry out the enquiry. The FTT also noted that HMRC had not issued an information notice (FA 2008 Sch 36) because of Ms Carpenter’s illness.
Whilst sympathetic to Ms Carpenter’s...
