IHTM36192 - Co-operation: genuine disagreements and ‘external’ intervention

If a taxpayer has

• a genuine disagreement with you over the interpretation of a set of facts or the statute, or
• has sought the intervention of Members of Parliament or other ‘external’ authorities such as the Adjudicator’s Office or the Parliamentary Commissioner for Administration (the Ombudsman)

you should not be regard this as a lack of co-operation unless it can be shown that there was a deliberate policy of obstruction, accompanied by clear evidence of attempts to mislead those authorities as well as HMRC.