In S De Silva v HMRC [2021] UKUT 275 (TCC) (11 November 2021) the Upper Tribunal (UT) refused permission for a late appeal. The UT held that the FTT had made an error of law in refusing permission but in remaking the decision arrived at the same conclusion.
Mr De Silva appealed against income tax assessments for tax years from 2004/05 to 2011/12. It was not in dispute that the appeals were notified from 551 to 1338 days late. HMRC objected to the application to make late appeals and the FTT refused permission. The FTT found that considering the circumstances as a whole there was little prejudice to the taxpayer and ‘the merits of the appeal succeeding at first blush are dim’. The taxpayer appealed arguing that the FTT simply ‘did not engage’ with his case that there was no overall tax liability at all....
