Forms & Guidance

After the hearing

What happens at the end of my hearing?
Can I ask the General Commissioners to review their decision?
What is a point of law?
How do I appeal against the General Commissioners' decision?
Who should I appeal to?

1. What happens at the end of my hearing?

The panel may announce its decision there and then, or may reserve it to be given in writing later. In either case, the reasons for the decision will be given, and a copy of the written decision signed by the chair will be sent to you.

2. Can I ask the General Commissioners to review their decision?

You, or anyone else involved in your appeal hearing, can ask the General Commissioners to review their decision if you can satisfy them that:

Their final decision was wrong because of an administrative error made by the clerk or any of the General Commissioners staff, or by any party involved in the appeal, or
You or any other party to the appeal, or your representatives had a good reason for not coming to the hearing, or
Information that had been sent to the Clerk to the General Commissioners or the appropriate HMRC officer before the hearing was not seen by the General Commissioners until after the hearing

To ask for a review of your case, write to the General Commissioners within 14 days of the date on which your notice of determination was sent to you, or at another date that you arrange with the General Commissioners. State why you are asking for a review.

If the General Commissioners decide to make their own review of your case, they will notify you within 14 days of the date on which your notice of decision was sent to you.

The General Commissioners who hear the review may be the same group who heard your original hearing, or a new group of General Commissioners. They can make another decision, order another group of General Commissioners to re-hear the appeal, or arrange a time where they themselves will re-hear the appeal.

3. What is a point of law?

When the General Commissioners hear your appeal, they must interpret the legislation that covers it and apply it to the facts of the case.

A point of law arises when the law has been incorrectly interpreted, or if the decision that is made is one that no reasonable tribunal could reach.

A point of law could apply if the General Commissioners:

did not apply the correct law to your case
wrongly interpreted the law
did not observe the rules of natural justice (this means they did not consider all the facts that were available)
had no evidence, or not enough evidence to support the full statement of their decision
did not give adequate reasons in the full statement of their decision

4. How do I appeal against the General Commissioners' decision?

Before you decide to appeal, you would be wise to get advice from a solicitor, accountant or advice agency.

There are only limited grounds for appeal (see below). The Court can make an award for costs. This means that if you win the appeal you may be able to recover your costs from the HMRC, however if you lose the HMRC can seek to recover their costs from you.

HMRC can exercise their discretion in asking for costs, in particular where they have appealed the decision, and may in exceptional circumstances consider waiving their costs or making other arrangements. Influential factors include the risk of financial hardship to the other party and whether the case is one of significant interest to taxpayers as a whole - where a point of law needs clarification.

To appeal the General Commissioners decision on a point of law:

write to the Clerk to the General Commissioners within 30 days of the General Commissioners decision (this time limit also applies to a final decision that has been made in a review)
say in your letter that you require a case to be stated for the High Court/ Court of Session/ Court of Appeal - depending on geographical area - see Who should I appeal to?
make sure you identify the point of law to be stated
include payment of £25 made out to the clerk to the General Commissioners who heard your appeal. This is a statutory fee.

The Clerk must then prepare a draft of the case within 56 days of receipt, copies of which he will send to both the HMRC and you who can both make comment on it in writing. You and the HMRC must send each other a copy of any comments made to the clerk. You now have 56 days in which to do this. There is then another 28 days to respond in writing to comments that the HMRC have made before the clerk prepares the final case stated. Again you and the HMRC must also send these comments to each other.

The clerk to the General Commissioners will then prepare the final draft of the case stated, the General Commissioners will sign it and the clerk will send it to you.

At this point, it is your responsibility to send the case stated to the High Court (or its equivalent) within 30 days of receiving it. You must also send a copy to the HMRC and any other party.

The HMRC may also appeal a decision on a point of law.

5. Who should I appeal to?

In England and Wales you should appeal to the High Court

In Scotland you should appeal to the Court of Session

General Commissioners of Income Tax – Objecting to Their Decisions (Scotland) (20kb)

In Northern Ireland you should speak to the Court of Appeal

General Commissioners of Income Tax – Objecting to Their Decisions (Northern Ireland) (20kb)

In this section