上诉人的辩称.DOCVIP

Case No. D50/12 Profits tax – appellant submitting tax return out of time – defence of ‘reasonable excuse’ – whether appellant had reasonable excuse – whether additional tax excessive – sections 51, 58, 59, 66(3), 68, 80, 82, 82A(1) and 82B of the Inland Revenue Ordinance (Cap112) (‘the IRO’). [Decision in Chinese] Panel: Albert T da Rosa Jr (chairman), Chan Miu Lan Anita and Shum Sze Man Erik. Date of hearing: 13 August 2012. Date of decision: 7 February 2013. The Inland Revenue Department (‘the IRD’) sent a tax return to the Appellant’s business address registered with the Business Registration Office (‘Address B’) through ordinary post. Under the tax return, the Appellant was reminded to submit the tax return 1 month after being issued. The Appellant submitted the tax return 5 months and 3 days out of time. The Appellant stated that it did not receive the tax return delivered to Address B; that it had received Employer’s Return of Remuneration and Pensions twice at another address of the Appellant (‘Address A’), and hence was not aware of receiving the tax return; that neither it nor its tax representative had received any warning from the IRD regarding its failure to submit the tax return; that it had already provided books of account to its accountant to audit for declaring tax, hence there was no intention to submit the tax return late; that it was not conversant with the laws of Hong Kong; that the IRD had exempted it from paying surcharge for that year of assessment; that it had paid the additional tax. The Appellant did not dispute the lateness for submitting the tax return, but contended that it had reasonable excuse for the late submission. The present incident was the first offence of the Appellant in the last 5 years. The Appellant had a history of late submission of profits tax return and employer’s tax return. In the hearing before the Board, the Appellant elected not to testify on oath but to make submissions only. Held: 1. The Appellant’