CISR81070 - Compliance: Overview & ‘Reasonable excuse’: What can be a ‘reasonable excuse’? - examples
This page gives some examples of what might be a reasonable excuse when considering either a CIS penalty appeal or tax treatment appeal or other CIS appeal and should be read in conjunction with CISR81060.
Please remember that these examples and are only intended to give you an idea of the factors you might need to consider. They are not model answers to a particular situation or, necessarily, the correct way to deal with similar cases. Real cases will have many other factors to take into account and you need to consider each in the light of all the relevant facts. An excuse will not necessarily be accepted as reasonable just because it seems to fit into one of these categories. It depends on the individual circumstances of each case.
We will normally treat the following as a ‘reasonable excuse’ where the failure(s) was put right without unreasonable delay after the ‘reasonable excuse’ came to an end (see CISR81110).
Coronavirus – Covid-19 pandemic
Where a person has not been able to meet an obligation on time due to the impact of COVID-19, HMRC will usually accept that they will have a reasonable excuse.
A reasonable excuse resulting from COVID-19 must have applied on or before the date on which the obligation should have been met, and not at some time after this date.
Mental health
Follow the guidance in CH160400.
Physical illness
Follow the guidance in CH160500.
Ignorance of the law
Follow the guidance in CH160600.
Reliance on another person
Follow the guidance in CH160700.
Bereavement
- The death of a partner or close relative of the person such that it impacted on the person`s ability at that time to meet their obligation will normally be treated as a reasonable excuse.
Postal delays
- The person is expected to allow sufficient time for the return or payment to reach HMRC. However, if the return or payment was posted in good time but the normal post service was disrupted and led to loss or delay, for example fire or flood at the Post Office or prolonged by industrial action by the Post Office, it would normally be accepted as a reasonable excuse. Or, if the person can provide a certificate of posting which shows that the return or payment was posted in good time and that there was a delay in delivery to us this would also normally be accepted as a reasonable excuse. See the additional guidance on this subject at CISR65180.
Service issues with HMRC Online Service
Reasonable excuse may be accepted where:
- HMRC Online Service does not accept the return
The person or their agent was unable to use HMRC`s online services. The person should provide the error message or details of the error message and the date it could not be filed online. However, HMRC does not want to penalise customers who have made a genuine attempt to file online so you should consider each case on its merits where details of the appropriate error message have not been provided
- Delayed receipt of online activation codes (PINs)
Accept as a reasonable excuse if the person registered to use the online service on or before the filing date but did not receive their activation PIN in time to file by the deadline, provided that they filed online as soon as possible once they received their activation PIN.
- Delayed receipt of a replacement ID, new password, or replacement activation code
Accept as reasonable excuse if the person applied for a replacement User ID, password, or activation code before the deadline, and filed their return without delay once they received the missing details. If application for this information was made after the deadline, reasonable excuse is not acceptable.
Other possible reasonable excuse examples can include
- the person had an unexpected stay in hospital that prevented them from dealing with their tax affairs
- the person`s computer or software failed just before or while they were preparing their online return
- a fire, flood or theft prevented the person from completing their tax return
- delay caused by HMRC