PENALTIES

HMRC’s latest guidance still leaves key questions unanswered, writes Jane Mellor, Head of Professional Standards at the CIOT and ATT.

No late payment penalties on reallocation of earlier tax payments

Discovery assessment in respect of travelling expenses: In F Uzoh v HMRC [2026] UKFTT 231 (TC) (5 February), an employee, who had not been within self-assessment, signed up with a repayment agent ‘Tommy’s Tax’, which then filed tax returns on his...

HICBC and joint incomes: I Odina v HMRC [2026] UKFTT 158 (TC) (28 January) confirms that for married couples living together, rental income from jointly‑owned property is taxed 50-50 by default, regardless of who actually receives it. The taxpayer...

Upper Tribunal cancels inaccuracy penalties

SDLT overpayment relief claim successful: In BTR Core Fund JPUT v HMRC [2026] UKUT 27 (TCC) (21 January), a company acquired a large property in Manchester consisting of 350 flats above shop premises. It claimed multiple dwellings relief,...

Burden of proof and civil penalties: The Court of Appeal in HMRC v Sintra Global Inc and another [2025] EWCA Civ 1661 (18 December 2025) decided in favour of HMRC, holding that the UT had made various errors of law, in particular, by...

Determining domicile: In A Weis v HMRC [2025] UKFTT 348 (TC) (21 March), the taxpayer, a Rabbi, had been born in the UK in 1949 in Manchester to a father who had been born in Eastern Europe but had come to the UK in 1938. The father had acquired...