Mrs L West v HMRC

In Mrs L West v HMRC (TC00707 – 12 October) HMRC imposed a surcharge on a woman (W) in respect of the tax due on 31 January 2009 on the basis that it had not received her payment until 2 March 2009. She appealed contending that she had initiated the payment on 27 February 2009 which was within the statutory time limit. The First-Tier Tribunal dismissed her appeal observing that HMRC’s guidance stated that ‘it normally takes three working days for payment to reach HMRC’ and holding that the payment had not been ‘made’ until HMRC had received the funds.

Why it matters: The Tribunal upheld the principle laid down in a large number of VAT cases concerning default surcharges that an electronic tax payment is not made when it is initiated but when HMRC receive the funds.