Appeals and Reviews: Transitional Guidance
On 5 February 2009 the Tribunal Procedure Committee published revised rules for the Tax Chamber of the First-tier Tribunal and an Amendment to the Upper Tribunal .
To read the rules please see the Tribunals Service site
Tribunals Reform Awareness training for HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) staff.
If you would like to see the Tribunals Reform Awareness training that has been produced for HMRC staff a copy is available here. This package provides HMRC staff with an awareness of both the new internal review process and important changes to the appeals system. The changes come into effect on 1 April 2009. The package is high level and takes only 15-20 minutes to work through. Additional material will be available shortly for HMRC review officers and other staff who need a more detailed knowledge. We also intend to place a copy of this additional learning material on this site.
As part of HMRC Tribunals Reform Project's work in developing user friendly guidance for customers on the new appeal and review process (see Latest News 9 December 2008) factsheet - HMRC1 'HMRC decisions-what to do if you disagree' (PDF 56K) - is now available. It outlines the new arrangements for appeals, reviews and tribunals from 1 April 2009.
Alternatively they can:
Latest news on guidance and the transition
The Tribunals Service website includes information for the public on the
transition to the new tribunal .
Podcast concerning Tribunals Reform and internal reviews was launched on the 22 January 2009.
'Richard Mannion and Brian Redford discuss in the Podcast, Tribunals Reform giving details to help customers deal with the new appeals regime and optional internal HMRC reviews which will start to operate from 1 April 2009.
It is possible to listen directly to the Podcast by selecting the link and this will last 10 minutes 45 seconds. Alternatively, the Podcast can be downloaded onto your computer and transferred to an MP3 player enabling you to listen to it when it suits you best.
The HMRC Tribunals Reform Project has been working to develop user-friendly guidance for both HMRC staff and our customers on the new appeals, reviews and tribunals. We are particularly grateful for the assistance from the Tribunals Service and are looking forward to working together with them and agent representatives of the Tribunals Reform Stakeholder Group and Tribunals Reform Manchester Group to further develop our guidance.
A new factsheet will give customers the key messages about the changes. This will be published in February 2009 so that customers have information in advance of the changes taking place on 1 April.
We will also be replacing the current appeals guidance on the HMRC website with guidance on the new arrangements. This will provide more detailed information than the factsheet.
Customers will be able to obtain the factsheet and the more detailed guidance via the HMRC website. But if they do not have access to the Internet they will be able to ring the Self Assessment Orderline for a copy of the factsheet or the relevant extracts of the guidance. Or they can ask at an Enquiry Centre for a printed copy.
We will also be publishing a new guidance manual for our staff - the Appeals, Reviews and Tribunals Guidance (ARTG). The ARTG will provide guidance for HMRC where a customer disagrees with an HMRC tax decision. The ARTG will replace the current guidance manuals relating to direct and indirect taxes - the Appeals Handbook, VAT 1-29 Reconsiderations and Appeals and the G5-8 Excise and Customs Appeals.
