ARTG8390 - First-tier and Upper Tribunals: Preparing for tribunal: Standard and complex cases
Introduction
Statement of Case
Action following statement of case
Introduction
The customer’s notice of appeal must
- contain the information set out in ARTG8210 above
- contain copies of any written record of any decision appealed against, and any statement of the reasons for that decision, that the appellant has or can reasonably obtain
- say whether they would be happy for the case to be considered without a hearing if the tribunal thinks it is appropriate.
HMRC must send a statement of case to the tribunal and a copy to the customer. We must do this within 60 days of the tribunal sending us a copy of the notice of appeal or application to the tribunal.
Statement of Case
The respondent’s statement of case must
- in an appeal state the legal provision under which the decision under appeal was made, and
- set out HMRC’s position on the issues in dispute.
We should make every effort to meet the tribunal’s time limits. If we cannot provide the statement of case within the time limit we must ask for an extension of time and give reasons for the request and an explanation of why our response was not provided within the time limit.
To do this we apply for a direction that the time be extended (tribunal rule 5(3)(a) SI 273/2009) or by including with the statement of case a request for an extension of time. The request for an extension should give reasons for the request and an explanation of why the response was not provided within the time limit. It is not sufficient to simply say that we need more time to provide the statement of case.
If we do not provide the statement of case before the time limit or extension expires, we must ask the tribunal for another extension of the time limit.
The tribunal will not automatically agree to an extension of the time limit, and it has the discretion to hold a hearing without a statement of case being prepared. So it is important that, if we make a request for an extension, we provide good reasons why the time limit was not met, and we should include within the statement of case an explanation of the reasons why it was not submitted on time.
Action following statement of case
Once we have sent the statement of case to the tribunal, the rules require each party to the appeal or application to send the tribunal and all other parties a list of documents that they intend to rely on or produce at the hearing, unless the tribunal directs a different procedure.
Parties must send the list of documents within 42 days of the date we sent the statement of case. All parties can see and copy other parties’ listed documents unless they are privileged.
The tribunal will decide how the case will be conducted, including whether to invite the parties to the appeal to a case management hearing, see ARTG8500. It may make any other directions it thinks are appropriate, such as in relation to witness statements.