Introduction
When HMRC has acted mistakenly, unreasonably, disproportionately, unfairly or not in accordance with its published guidance, redress can be sought through an accessible and customer-focused complaints process.
In the right circumstances, HMRC’s complaints process can be used to provide an effective and economical means of seeking redress. This applies across the whole spectrum of taxes work, not just to HMRC investigations or straightforward service delivery failures. It is not a universal panacea, but it is an option that tax advisers should always consider when HMRC has got it wrong or acted unreasonably.
The purpose of this guidance note is to explain how this process can be used effectively. It draws on published case studies provided by the Adjudicator’s annual reports as illustrative examples.
Complaints concerning serious and / or potentially criminal misbehaviour by HMRC staff
Complaints concerning serious and / or potentially criminal misbehaviour by HMRC staff fall outside the scope of HMRC’s normal complaints process.
It is suggested that, for record keeping purposes, the complaint is made in writing. For a list of the particulars
Continue reading the full document
To gain access to additional expert tax guidance, workflow tools, generative tax AI, and tax research, register for a free trial of Tolley+™
Access this article for free with a 7 day trial of Tolley+™ Guidance and benefit from:
- Expert practical tax guidance
- Ready-made templates, step-by-step-guides, interactive flowcharts and checklists
- The latest news updates, insights and analysis
Popular Articles
Transferable tax allowance (also known as the marriage allowance)
Transferable tax allowance (also known as the marriage allowance)What is the transferable tax allowance (marriage allowance)?From 6 April 2015, an individual can elect to transfer 10% of the personal allowance (£1,260) to the spouse or civil partner where neither party is a higher rate or additional
Trade or hobby
Trade or hobbyInteraction of hobby farming rules and commercialityFarming has its own set of ‘hobby farming rules’, which historically have stated that a profit must be made every six years. This is known as ‘the five-year rule’, in that there can be five years of losses but there must be a profit
Computation of corporation tax
Computation of corporation taxCompanies pay corporation tax on the taxable total profits (TTP) generated in a chargeable accounting period (CAP).To ascertain whether the entity is within the charge to corporation tax, see the Charge to corporation tax guidance note.For more information on the type
