Evans
| Jurisdiction | UK Non-devolved |
| Judgment Date | 30 April 2012 |
| Neutral Citation | [2012] UKFTT 285 (TC) |
| Date | 30 April 2012 |
| Court | First Tier Tribunal (Tax Chamber) |
[2012] UKFTT 285 (TC)
Judge J. Blewitt, Mrs M. Crompton
Mrs Evans, the Appellant, was unrepresented
Mrs Johnson, instructed by the General Counsel and Solicitor to HM Revenue and Customs, appeared for the Respondents
National insurance - Married woman paying contributions at reduced rates - Whether she had elected to do so - Challenge to HMRC's decision that she had done so - Election, if made, destroyed due to passage of time - Other evidence considered - On the balance of probabilities, election made - Appeal dismissed
The First-tier Tribunal decided that the taxpayer had made an election to pay reduced rate contributions during the relevant period. Given the process involved in making an election and the audits undertaken by HMRC to ensure that their records were correct, it was highly unlikely that an election would have been recorded where none was made. The taxpayer's recollection of not having seen a form CF9 was not so reliable as to be preferred over HMRC's documentary evidence showing that her employers deducted reduced rate contributions during the relevant period.
The taxpayer appealed against HMRC's decision holding her not liable to pay Class 1 National Insurance contributions ("NICs") from 11 November 1974 to 5 April 1975, and holding her liable to pay married woman's reduced rate NICs from 6 April 1975 to 5 April 1980.
In October 2008, the taxpayer made enquiries about her entitlement to Home Responsibilities Protection ("HRP"). HMRC denied her entitlement to HRP in the period 6 April 1978 to 5 April 1980. HMRC's records showed that she paid reduced rate contributions amounting to £0.41 during the 1978/1979 tax year and no contributions in the 1978/1979 and 1979/1980 tax years. As a consequence, her election lapsed on 5 April 1980.
The taxpayer contended that as far as she was aware, she had not elected to pay a married woman's reduced rate. She said that after giving birth to her child and remaining at home for some time, she resumed part-time work in 1974, at which point she did not elect to pay a reduced contribution. In 1980, she began to work for the Tameside Metropolitan Borough Council and believed she had continued to pay full rate contributions. She accepted that she had never checked the amount deducted which was shown on wage slips, as she had assumed that her contributions had continued at full rate and she had never been told otherwise by HMRC. She also did not challenge any of the records produced by HMRC, which showed the reduced paid rate contributions for the 1975/76, 1976/77 and 1977/78 tax years until she left the Derbyshire County Council on 29 July 1977. Furthermore, she had no recollection of seeing a form CF9 (Married woman's application for a certificate of election of reduced liability or to change to full liability) or Leaflet NI 1 (National Insurance for Married Woman).
Whether the taxpayer had made an election not to pay reduced rate contributions from 11 November 1974.
Held, dismissing the taxpayer's appeal:
1.The Tribunal held that the taxpayer had made an election to pay reduced rate contributions from 11 November 1974. It considered the possibility of the taxpayer's election being mistakenly recorded by an HMRC clerk but, given the process involved in making an election and the audits undertaken by HMRC to ensure that their records were correct, it was highly unlikely that an election would have been recorded where none was made.
2.The Tribunal also considered the absence of the CF9. Although it was sympathetic to the taxpayer's argument that she could not be satisfied that she had signed the document without seeing the document, the...
To continue reading
Request your trial