AH0965 - Commissioners’ Hearing: The case for HMRC: References to statute and reported cases

You should include copies of any legislation, Tax Case of other legal decision you intend to refer to in the document folders you prepare for the Commissioners (AH0695). When you make a reference to any of them it is important that you make sure the Commissioners have found the right page in the folder. This enables them to follow the reference or authority quoted more easily, and to appreciate its bearing on the argument.

Tax cases

You will frequently need to refer to decided Tax Cases in your submission to the Commissioners, but be selective and do not refer to more cases than is necessary. A later decision often gives a full review of the decided case law so that citing the later authority makes it unnecessary to refer to the detail of the earlier authorities.

When you cite a decided case, make sure all the Commissioners understand the point of law at issue in that case and how it relates to the issue that they are being asked to decide. This is particularly so where the facts of the appeal you are arguing are very different from the facts in the decided case. You must read enough to give a balanced account of the decision and to establish the point of law decided by the case.

The safest approach therefore is to outline briefly the main facts of the decided case by reading from the Headnote or judgement. You can then isolate and explain the point of law by reading the relevant parts of the legal reasoning, showing clearly the common factor in law between the decided case and your own and dealing with any dissenting judgements.

You need to read enough from a judgement to enable the Commissioners to put the dictum on which you rely in its context, and also to appreciate its significance. If you read too much, you risk losing the Commissioners' attention. If you read too little they will simply not be able to appreciate the significance of the authority you are quoting.

It is important for you to pace very carefully your reading from decided cases. If you have to quote a long passage it may help to read it aloud to yourself before the hearing as part of your preparation. This will enable you to assimilate the rhythm and structure of the passage so that you can read it confidently and intelligibly to the Commissioners. An assured and clear delivery helps the Commissioners understanding of the relevance of the text quoted.