CH26400 - Information & Inspection Powers: penalties: when is a penalty chargeable: reasonable excuse: what is not a reasonable excuse

While you must consider all relevant circumstances, there are some situations which we will not normally accept alone as a reasonable excuse.

• Doing nothing because of a lack of understanding.
• Pressure of work.
• Assembling information or finding documents or assets is too difficult.
• HMRC did not remind me.

What is or is not a reasonable excuse is personal to the individual’s abilities and circumstances. Those abilities and circumstances may mean that what is a reasonable excuse for one person may not be a reasonable excuse for another.

The law mentions two specific situations that are not reasonable excuses. These are

• a shortage of funds, see CH26420 for more detail and an exception, and
• reliance on another person, see CH26440 for more detail and an exception.

FA08/SCH36/PARA45 (2)

CEMA79/S118G