The High Court has ruled that a taxpayer seeking to bring a late appeal against income tax assessments may rely on a reasonable cause beyond sickness or absence. The decision does not admit the appeal: it leaves the appellant to establish facts that could support admission.
Mr Justice Tony O’Connor delivered the judgment on 19 December 2017 in a case stated by Circuit Court Judge O’Donoghue. The High Court was asked whether the judge was correct to uphold the Criminal Assets Bureau’s refusal to admit the late appeal under section 933(7)(a) of the Taxes Consolidation Act 1997.
The Circuit Court judge had considered himself bound by an earlier High Court judgment, CAB v K.D., which treated “other reasonable cause” as having the same meaning as sickness and absence. He found the appellant had produced no evidence bringing him within that test.
The appellant argued that the provision should be read more broadly, relying on CAB v P. McS. In that case, a judge had found that delays around Christmas and the postal system could amount to reasonable cause for a late appeal.
The assessments at issue were raised on 12 December 2012 for tax years 2004 to 2010, totalling €129,943. The judgment recounts that returns filed in January 2013 showed a liability of €1,731.51, which was paid without interest. The Bureau refused the appeal and pointed to the late-appeal procedure. A further €854 in statutory interest was paid on 24 January 2013. The Appeal Commissioners refused to admit the late appeal in May 2015, and the matter came before Judge O’Donoghue in February 2016.
Justice O’Connor distinguished the circumstances in K.D., which involved asset confiscation and summary recovery proceedings, from the case before him. He said the principle that words following a list should be read in the same category was an aid to interpretation, not an automatic rule. The earlier postal-delay decision in P. McS. also showed that reasonable cause could extend beyond sickness or absence.
The High Court concluded that it was incorrect to confine “other reasonable cause” to absence or sickness. It did not decide whether the appellant had established reasonable cause or whether his late appeal should be admitted. Those questions remained open for determination on the facts.