In F Anstock v HMRC [2017] UKFTT 307 (13 April 2017) the FTT found that the information sought by an information notice should be ascertainable from the notice itself without consulting other correspondence.
HMRC had sent Mr Anstock a letter informing him that it was in possession of information ‘that gives us reason to suspect that you have committed tax fraud’. This was followed by further correspondence and several meetings. An information notice was issued on 5 July 2016 and a penalty imposed on 16 August for non-compliance. However Mr Anstock had not replied to the letter containing the notice nor acknowledged its existence in any way.
Applying Jussila v Finland [2006] ECHR 996 the FTT noted that it had to decide whether the penalty had been lawfully imposed. It found that HMRC had failed to prove that the notice had been sent to Mr...
