The First-tier Tribunal has dismissed the taxpayer’s application for permission to bring a late appeal, following on from the guidance given by the Court of Appeal on late appeals earlier this year in Medpro Healthcare Ltd v HMRC [2026] EWCA Civ 14.
The taxpayer argued, firstly, that the appeal was not late as it had not received HMRC’s review conclusion letter in the post, and secondly, even if the appeal was late, that the balance of prejudices favoured allowing it to be brought.
Dismissing the first argument, the FTT held that as HMRC had evidence of posting and sending the review conclusion letter, this would be deemed as delivered under s7 of the Interpretation Act 1978. The taxpayer failed to disprove deemed delivery as it did not have an adequate system for sorting post.
On the second argument, in applying the test for late appeals the FTT rejected the taxpayer’s arguments that the existence of joined appeals of a similar nature was a relevant factor to consider, instead concluding that the prejudice to HMRC in having to defend the appeal, the taxpayer’s failure to follow up and the importance of respecting statutory time limits meant that the appeal should be refused.
Arthur Wong (led by Emile Simpson) acted for HMRC.
You can read a copy of the decision here.
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