Although, in law, the Officer of HMRC and the appellant are not
strictly 'parties' they are, nevertheless, referred to as such
throughout the Regulations. This is because the Regulations are
based on the standard Council for Tribunals model of Regulations.
Regulation 3(1) provides that either the Officer of HMRC or
the appellant (or his or her representative) may serve Notice on
the Clerk that they wish a date for a Hearing to be fixed. Any such
request must be passed to the Clerk to the Commissioners
immediately.
There is an exception in respect of proceedings under Section
100C of the Taxes Management Act (penalty provisions by way of
information laid before the Commissioners and thereafter pursued by
Summons).
Regulation 3(2) is subject to an overriding jurisdiction of
Regulation 27 which will be dealt with later. Regulation 3(3) is a
useful voluntary waiver of the twenty-eight days' notice. By
consent of both of the parties it is possible to bring on a case
for Hearing at very short notice. This can be helpful if a case is
ready and the opportunity arises, perhaps, to use the day booked
for another case which has been settled. Please note that the
Tribunal may direct that less than twenty-eight days' notice may be
given. (See Regulation 8 (3).)
