Penalties Are There to be Overturned

I never just accept a penalty.

Whenever I come across one, I always consider the merits of appealing.

I have to say, the case I am about to introduce is one I would have said would fail.

The Tribunal has just reduced to just £400 a penalty of £3,602 for late registration for VAT.

Our hero in this case was three years late.  His only excuse was that he didn’t know.

Our supporting hero (the Tribunal) deemed £3,602 too harsh for what was the chap’s first offence.  They imposed their own penalty based on their own measure of fairness, and ordered him to pay £400.

An unlikely result, and it just goes to show that no matter what result you are expecting, there are often ‘upsets’.

Always worth a challenge?