AH0605 - Preparation for hearing: Parliamentary material

The House of Lords in Pepper v Hart (65TC421), held that it was appropriate, in certain circumstances, to have regard to proceedings in Parliament, as recorded in Hansard, as an aid to the construction of legislation.

Reference to such material is to be allowed where the following conditions are met:

• legislation is ambiguous or obscure, or leads to an absurdity
• the material relied upon consists of one or more statements by a Minister or other promoter of the Bill together if necessary with such other Parliamentary material as is necessary to understand such statements and their effect
• the statements relied upon are clear.

If

• a taxpayer challenges your interpretation of the law by quoting a Ministerial statement from Hansard or
• you want to quote such a statement in support of your view of the law or
• circumstances arise where either you or the taxpayer think it will be appropriate to make reference to Parliamentary material at an appeal hearing before the Commissioners

you should make a report with the file to Central Policy: Tax Administration Policy before arrangements are made for a hearing.

If, exceptionally, the taxpayer seeks to make reference to such material at a Commissioners' hearing without warning, you should ask for an adjournment so that the material can be properly considered. The Commissioners may be expected to agree to the request because the relevance of a Ministerial statement can only be established by looking at the whole of the relevant debates, both during the Committee Stage and on Report or Third Reading. If an adjournment is granted, you should report to Central Policy: Tax Administration Policy as above.