Disagree with a tax decision or penalty

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Disagree with a tax decision

HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) will tell you in their decision letter what to do if you disagree.

You usually have 30 days from the date of the decision letter to either appeal or accept a review.

If you miss the deadline, you’ll need to provide a reasonable excuse.

How you challenge a decision depends on if it’s direct or indirect tax.

Direct tax 

Direct tax includes:

  • Income Tax (including PAYE)
  • Corporation Tax
  • Capital Gains Tax
  • National Insurance contributions
  • Inheritance Tax

Indirect tax

Indirect tax includes:

  • VAT
  • Excise Duty
  • Customs Duty
  • environmental taxes such as Plastic Packaging Tax, Landfill Tax or the Climate Change Levy

Disagree with a direct tax decision

Your decision letter will tell you how to make an appeal and when you must appeal by. The deadline is usually 30 days from the date of the letter.

You can either:

  • use the appeal form you got with your decision letter
  • write to HMRC at the address on the letter

If you do not have a letter or an appeal form, write to the HMRC office related to your return. 

You must tell HMRC what you disagree with and why.

You can also include:

  • your name or business name
  • your reference number - for example your Unique Tax Reference (UTR)
  • any extra information or anything you think HMRC have missed
  • what you think the correct figures are and how you calculated them

After you send your appeal

The case worker who made the decision will look at your case again and consider your appeal. 

Your case worker will aim to reach an agreement with you. Most disagreements are resolved this way. They’ll write to let you know what they decide.

If they do not change their decision or you cannot reach an agreement, you’ll be offered a review.

You’ll get 30 days from the date of the offer to either accept the offer of a review or appeal to the tax tribunal. 

Reviews are usually quicker than appeals to the tax tribunal.

You may also request a review at any time after you make an appeal – you do not need to wait to find out the result of the appeal.

To ask for a review, write to the same HMRC office you sent the appeal to.

Disagree with an indirect tax decision

You’ll be offered a review by HMRC in the decision letter.

You’ll get 30 days from the date of the offer to either accept the offer of a review or appeal to the tax tribunal.

Reviews are usually quicker than appeals to the tax tribunal.

If you want a review but need more time (for example, to gather information to give to the review officer), you can ask HMRC to extend the deadline. You must ask within 30 days of the offer date.

You cannot get an extension on the deadline to appeal to the tax tribunal.

If you’ve had your items seized, you can ask for them back.

View a printable version of the whole guide

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