Formal notices of the revised decision will be sent to the
claimant(s) who will have the right of appeal against your decision
to amend the award even if they have previously agreed the figures
with you. The appeal right does not take effect from the date of
your closure letter but from the date the formal Section 19 amended
decision is made (ie. when the revised output is issued to the
claimant).
All appeals must be resolved either by:-
You should attempt wherever possible to come to an agreement
with the claimant(s) including asking them to agree to withdraw
their appeal rather than referring it to the Tribunals Service.
If an appeal is made against your decision you should review
the grounds of the appeal carefully to decide if it is appropriate
to revise your decision. If so, you can write to the claimant(s)
with revised figures and record your agreement under Section 54 TMA
1970 on form TC622 – see the Tax Credit Appeals Guide (TCAG)
for more details.
It is essential foryou to use this form so that the appeal is properly
settled.
It may be appropriate to agree the claimant(s) figures if
you had overlooked something in the previous decision or they have
now provided some further information or evidence to support their
claim.
If you receive an appeal from a claimant who agreed your
revised figures during previous correspondence you should write
reminding them of their earlier agreement and inviting them to
withdraw their appeal using form TC676. You should carefully
consider any further explanations they provide. If it is
appropriate to revise your decision you will enter into a Section
54 TMA 1970 agreement.
The time limit for making appeals is 30 days from the date
of the formal revised decision, but you may allow a little longer
for any appeal to reach you before closing your records. If you do
not receive an appeal once 40 days have passed then unless you have
any reason to imagine that a late appeal will be made you will need
to settle the case on TCW.
Where you have been able to settle the appeal by agreement
you must also keep the claimant advised of the position regarding
any overpayment. Having received further information you might now
be able to agree the claim in which case there will be no
overpayment, but the claimant might now have accepted your
conclusions or might have agreed to a different adjustment to the
claim.
For appeals against a penalty please see
CCM10385.
