The Upper Tribunal is staffed by some of the more experienced Judges from the First Tier, together with High Court Judges with relevant tax experience. Normally a High Court Judge will sit with one or more Tribunal Judges.
The Upper Tribunal does not hear evidence in appeals. Any appeal from the Upper Tribunal is direct to the Court of Appeal. However, there is no absolute right of appeal. Permission to appeal is only given where there is an important point of principle
Appeals to what was the VAT & Duties Tribunal, and is now the Tax Tribunal, should always be seen as a last resort. Equally, early advice should be sort before engaging in discussions with HM Revenue & Customs because doing or saying the wrong thing at th
Northgate was set up in the late summer of 2009 but it is far from a fledgling business. The senior "partner" is Nigel Gibbon, a qualified solicitor, with over 21 years experience in litigation at what was the VAT & Duties Tribunal and is now the Tax
We concentrate on giving advice and assistance to VAT or Customs Duty consultants, accountants, solicitors and other fellow professionals whose clients are in dispute with HM Revenue & Customs over VAT or Customs Duty issues. VAT specialists ...
Beware of careless inaccuracy. Types of VAT penalty: Default Surcharge, Misdeclaration Penalty, Repeated Misdeclaration Penalty, Late Registration Penalty,Civil Evasion Penalty.
Our UK based VAT consultants can help. +44 (0)161 237 9103.
northgate specialises in assisting VAT consultants, accountants and other fellow practitioners when their clients become embroiled with HM Revenue & Customs in VAT or Customs Duty issues.
Although we specialise in taking cases to appeal at the Tax Tribunal, we also subscribe to the first rule of litigation - that it is better to settle a case, if at all possible, than to risk the uncertainties inherent in all litigation. An appeal to the Tax Tribunal should always be viewed as a last resort and no opportunity should be lost to engage HMRC in discussions with a view to reaching an advantageous settlement.
However, early advice should be sought before engaging HMRC in negotiations because saying or doing the wrong thing at the wrong time might well prejudice the possibility of a successful settlement and might also adversely affect the final outcome if an appeal to the Tax Tribunal proves necessary.
At northgate we are uniquely qualified to help your client to achieve the best possible settlement and, if necessary and appropriate, to issue an appeal to the Tax Tribunal (see Appeals).
These are some of the VAT issues with which we have dealt over recent years :
In all of these cases (and many more besides) we have either negotiated settlements with HMRC or have represented businesses on appeal before the Tax Tribunal / VAT & Duties Tribunal.
These are some of the Customs Duty issues with which we have dealt over recent years :
In all of these cases (and many more besides) we have either negotiated settlements with HMRC or have represented businesses on appeal before the Tax Tribunal / VAT & Duties Tribunal.
In the days of the VAT & Duties Tribunal the losing party could appeal to the Chancery Division of the High Court. Since April 2009 the avenue of appeal is to the Upper Tribunal.
An application for leave to appeal must be made within 56 days of the final decision of the First Tier Tribunal. Any appeal must be on a point of law - ie. a point of law which the First Tier got wrong. A business cannot appeal just because it does not like the decision of the First Tier in the hope that the Upper Tribunal will reach a different decision, although it is just possible to challenge the First Tier's fact finding rôle in exceptional circumstances.
The Upper Tribunal is "staffed" by some of the more experienced Judges from the First Tier, together with High Court Judges with relevant tax experience. Normally a High Court Judge will sit with one or more Tribunal Judges. The Upper Tribunal does not hear evidence in appeals.
Any appeal from the Upper Tribunal is direct to the Court of Appeal. However, there is no absolute right of appeal. Permission to appeal will only be given where there is an important point of principle or practice at stake. Again, the Court of appeal does not hear evidence.
Appeals from the Court of Appeal are to the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom, which assumed the judicial functions of the House of Lords on 1st October 2009. Again, there is no automatic right of appeal. Permission will only be given in cases which raise points of law of general public importance.
Finally, there is the Court of Justice of the European Communities (otherwise the "European Court of Justice" or "ECJ").
Strictly, the ECJ is not an appeal court. So, there is no right of appeal from the Supreme Court of the UK to the ECJ.
The role of the ECJ is to assist the national courts of the member states of the EU in the interpretation of EU law. Any court, from the First Tier Tribunal to the Supreme Court may make a "reference" to the ECJ asking specific questions relating to the interpretation of EU law. The ECJ will, having heard the parties, answer the questions and refer the case back to the original court or Tribunal to decide the case in the light of the answers given.
Standard Rate VAT returns to 17.5%