Goodtime Print & Design Ltd v HMRC

In Goodtime Print & Design Ltd v HMRC (TC02286 – 9 October) a company (G) submitted accounts without including a directors’ report. HMRC imposed penalties under FA 1998 Sch 18 paras 17(3) and 18 on the basis that G had failed to comply with the Companies Act. G appealed contending firstly that no penalty was due and alternatively that it had a reasonable excuse for not having realised that its returns were insufficient. The First-tier Tribunal rejected these contentions and dismissed the appeals. Judge Raghavan observed that Sch 18 para 11 permitted HMRC to require that accounts should be accompanied by ‘such documents as are required to be prepared under the Companies Act’. This included a directors’ report the preparation of which was required by the Companies Act even for small companies which were not required to file such reports with the Registrar of Companies.