30/06/2017
Certain decisions made by HM Revenue & Customs on a person’s tax affairs and penalties incurred can now be appealed online to the tax tribunal using a process introduced by HM Courts & Tribunals Service that enables taxpayers to lodge their appeals and receive acknowledgement with a reference number in a single step.
To use the service, the appellant needs a scan or photo of the original notice or review conclusion and the reasons for appeal available to paste into the application or attach as a document. The appeal can them be lodged online to be considered by a judge before proceeding, if appropriate, to a hearing.
Other benefits of the online process are
- the option to upload documents saves on postal costs
- ‘save and return’ functionality allows users to revisit an appeal lodgement at a later date if they need to find further information
- information is validated when entered into the system so applications are less likely to be rejected for incomplete or incorrect information
- the service meets GOV.UK and web content accessibility guidelines for all users
‘Appeal to the tax tribunal’ identifies the online appeals that can be made to the First Tier Tribunal (Tax) to challenge some decisions by Border Force or the National Crime Agency, as well as HMRC decisions relating to direct and indirect taxes.
It also carries a reminder that Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) should be considered before appealing to the tribunal.