Tribunal Reform Awareness - Tribunals Reform

What to watch for from 1 April 2009

From 1 April 2009 a new integrated tax appeals system will hear all tax appeals and applications. The new system will be administered by the Tribunals Service which is part of the MoJ. The new system will take the place of the existing tax tribunals (VAT and Duties, General and Special Commissioners, section 704 and 706 tribunals).
In HMRC there will be a new internal review process to help resolve as many disputes as possible informally. But there will be no changes to rights of appeal.
HMRC only has 45 days to deal with a review request, so if you see one, pass it to a review officer in your business area as quickly as possible.
If you receive requests from a tribunal for papers you will need to pass these directly to the team dealing with tribunals work as they have strict time limits within which to comply.
HMRC will no longer be able to list cases for appeal from 1 April 2009.