In this section
Forms & Guidance
What to expect at the hearing
- How can I prepare for my appeal hearing?
- Who will be at my hearing?
- What will happen at the hearing?
- Will my hearing be in private?
- Do I need to bring any witnesses to the hearing?
- Can I nominate someone to represent me at the hearing?
- What happens when more than one person is involved in my appeal?
- What is the role of the Clerk to the General Commissioners?
- What is the role of the Chair?
1. How can I prepare for my appeal hearing?
The General Commissioners have no advance knowledge of your appeal form before the hearing. You should assume that you have to explain everything to them.
To resolve a disagreement, the General Commissioners need to know the relevant facts of your situation, so that they can apply the law to those facts.
When you plan what you are going to say to the General Commissioners, you need to think about:
- What the facts of your appeal are
- What evidence you have to support the facts of your appeal
- Whether you have a relevant witness and whether they would actually be any help at the hearing. It may be that you are the only witness.
Some people find appearing at a hearing easier if they write down the points that they want to make. It may be useful to prepare and bring the following things to your appeal hearing:
- A statement of the facts
- A list of the points that you want to make
- A copy of the HMRC decision
- Any papers that you have received from the HMRC
- A note of any telephone conversation that you have had with the HMRC
- Any other relevant documents
If you do bring papers to the hearing, it will help if you bring copies for the General Commissioners, and for the HMRC inspector. If there area lot of pages, make sure that you number them and highlight any information that is particularly important.
2. Who will be at my hearing?
Hearings are open to the public but they can be held in private if you, the Tribunal or anyone involved in the appeal ask for this and:
- It is in the interests of morals, public order, national security, young people or the protection of your private life or;
- Because the Tribunal consider that publicity could prejudice the interests of justice.
If you want your hearing to be heard in private you must contact the clerk dealing with your appeal.
3. What will happen at the hearing?
The General Commissioners try to make appeal hearings as informal as possible. Different divisions have slightly different procedures, but they all follow the general format set out below.
You or your representative will be asked to wait outside the hearing room until the Commissioners are ready to see you. The HMRC representative will also be asked to wait outside, unless, they are already in the hearing room dealing with another appeal.
At the beginning of the hearing, the Chair or the Clerk will tell you what is going to happen. The Chair will control what happens throughout the hearing, and he or she, and the other General Commissioners may ask you questions.
The General Commissioners determine the order in which the case is presented. Normally the Chair will ask you or your representative to present your case before the HMRC Inspector speaks but sometimes the HMRC may be asked to speak first. This is called 'presenting your case'.
The Chair will ask you to explain your appeal. Try to make sure that you tell the Commissioners information that is directly relevant to your case. You must tell the General Commissioners the facts to support your appeal not justyour opinion.
At the end of your presentation, try to sum up the important points that you have made. It is best to try to avoid raising new points after you have presented your case.
Once you have finished, the Chair will ask the HMRC representative to present their case. The HMRC representative will be able to reply to the points that you have made, and then present their own case. You or your representative will be asked if you want to reply to the HMRC arguments.
The General Commissioners will ask everyone to leave the room while they make their decision. The Clerk may stay to advise them on a legal point. Normally they will give you their decision in person on the day. Sometimes they need more time and will write to you later. They will tell you how you will get your decision.
After the hearing, the Clerk will send you a "notice of determination", to confirm the General Commissioner's decision.
4. Will my hearing be in private?
Generally hearings are in public but they can be held in private.
5. Do I need to bring any witnesses to the hearing?
You do not have to, but you may if their evidence is relevant to your case.
The witness can give their evidence orally, or if the General Commissioners directs, by affidavit or a statement in a document. The General Commissioners can request that the witness appears in person at any stage in a hearing, even if they have already given a written testimony.
The General Commissioners may ask the witness to give evidence on oath or affirmation.
6. Can I nominate someone to represent me at the hearing?
It is not necessary for you to have professional representation at your appeal hearing, and most people who make an appeal represent themselves, but if you would like to nominate someone to represent you, you should notify the General Commissioners that this person is authorised to act on your behalf. This person could be your lawyer, your accountant, or some one else.
But the General Commissioners if they are satisfied that there are good reasons for doing so may refuse to permit a particular person to represent you at your hearing.
If you represent yourself, the General Commissioners will help you to explain your case, although they must still act impartially.
7. What happens when more than one person is involved in my appeal?
Sometimes more than one person has an interest in a particular issue. For example:
Both the employer and the employee will have an interest in the outcome of an appeal on Statutory Sick Pay and Statutory Maternity Pay both a work provider and a worker will have an interest in whether the worker is an employee or self-employed, whether for tax or National Insurance Contribution purposes.
The General Commissioners have powers to direct appeals which cover the same issue to be heard together. They also have the power to link a person to an appeal even though that person may not have appealed themselves.
In National Insurance Contribution cases, whenever a decision is based on the circumstances of particular employees, the HMRC may have sent a notice of decision to several people who are affected by it. This means that each person has a right of appeal against a decision in which they have an interest. Appeals against the same decision will be dealt with together. If you were named in a decision but did not appeal, you can have your say at any appeal hearing which involves that decision.
In Statutory Sick Pay and Statutory Maternity Pay cases, whenever a decision concerns the entitlement of a particular employee, the employer and the employee may both appeal against it.
8. What is the role of the Clerk to the General Commissioners?
The Clerk to the General Commissioners provide administrative support to the General Commissioners, and will correspond and liase with you regarding the time and other details of hearings. Clerks are often lawyers, and can provide legal advice to the General Commissioners if the General Commissioners request it, but they do not make, nor influence, the General Commissioner's decision.
9. What is the role of the Chair?
It is the role of the Chair to facilitate your hearing. This means that he or she directs how the hearing is conducted, and will try to assist you if you are finding it hard to present your case.
