UK: directors' delegation and the submission of a VAT return

Can the illness of a company's bookkeeper or accountant provide a reasonable excuse for the failure of a company to submit its VAT return on time?  Is it reasonable for a company's directors to delegate whole responsibility for VAT compliance to another? These questions were recently considered in Ivis Group Ltd v Revenue & Customs [2008] UKVAT V20787 by the UK VAT and Duties Tribunal. 

The Tribunal rejected the argument that it was not reasonable wholly to delegate VAT compliance to another. It held, however, that the fact that a company had delegated responsibility did not provide a reasonable excuse for the failure to submit a VAT return on time. It was reasonable, the Tribunal found, to expect the company to have checked that the VAT return was submitted on time.