Tribunal issue statement on Alternative Dispute Resolution in Tax Disputes
17 June 2020
Judge Sinfield (President of the tax chamber of First-tier Tribunal) issued a statement on 15 June 2020, with the approval of the Senior President of Tribunals, setting out the Tribunal’s practice in appeals against HMRC decisions where the parties wish to engage in Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) both before and after an appeal has been made to the Tribunal.
- Where parties wish to use ADR after a hearing date has been set, the Tribunal will only be willing to stay proceedings if satisfied that the hearing will be able to go ahead on the date set if ADR does not resolve the dispute.
- A stay is defined as proceedings being temporarily put on hold. The Tribunal typically allow a stay of 150 days where an appeal has been accepted for ADR. If you need more time to complete the ADR process, you must request this from the Tribunal directly.
- The Tribunal will usually be willing to stay proceedings in order to facilitate the use of ADR at any stage of the proceedings, including after HMRC have served their Statement of Case or the parties have exchanged lists of documents or witness statements.
- ADR can also be used before an appeal has been made to the Tribunal. This should be discussed with HMRC directly.
- The statement advises that you should inform the Tribunal as soon as possible if HMRC accepts your application for ADR.
- You must inform the Tribunal of whether the appeal has been resolved using ADR. If a resolution has not been reached, the Tribunal will hear the appeal as normal.
Aspire Comment
ADR may not be applicable for all tax disputes but is a welcome route for some taxpayers who have had cases categorised by the tribunal as ‘standard’ or ‘complex’. It is a flexible dispute resolution tool whereby a HMRC mediator will help the parties attempt to resolve disputes or key decisions which may result in not requiring to proceed to the tribunal.
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