ARTG2213 | Reviews and appeals for direct taxes: appealing against a decision: customer appeals and subsequently asks for a review

Where the customer appeals within the 30 day time limit, there may be further discussions or further information provided for the decision maker to consider.

The customer may ask HMRC for a review of our decision at any time after they have appealed.

The decision maker must then write to the customer within 30 days of the review request (or other reasonable time) setting out our most recent view of the matter (s 49B(2) TMA 1970), see ARTG4290.

The review offer letter must always be sent directly to the customer, even if we routinely deal with the agent. Where a customer has an agent acting, a copy of the letter offering a review may also be sent to the agent. Where a customer disagrees with a Simple Assessment there is no right of appeal (and consequently no right of review is available) unless the customer has raised a query under s31AA TMA1970 and been given a final response to that query. If the customer believes that a Simple Assessment is or may be incorrect, then they should be advised to raise a query under s31AA TMA1970, see ARTG2010.

Where the customer appeals against a closure notice, the scope of the appeal is limited to the specific conclusions made, or amendments given effect, by that notice. The review process cannot alter the scope of an appeal once a closure notice has been issued. When giving our view of the matter we should not be drawn into commenting on any issues raised in the appeal which were not brought up during the enquiry into the return or addressed in the closure notice. We should instead confine our comments to saying that we are unable to give a view on the ground in question where it falls outside of the scope of the appeal.

If our view has not changed since the appeal was made, this may simply mean

• acknowledging the review request

• explaining that we are required by law to confirm our most recent view of the matter

• saying that our view remains as set out in our decision letter of [date].

If our view has changed, we should set out those points which we consider are resolved, what is outstanding, and our view on the appropriate tax treatment of any unresolved matters including, if appropriate, the amount of tax we think may be due.

This is so that the customer knows which points (if any) the decision maker considers having been agreed during their negotiations and those which are still in dispute. In addition, if we have not set out the ‘current view of the matter’ we cannot carry out a review, see ARTG2216.

It should not take the decision maker longer than 30 days to give the customer our most recent view of the matter unless the customer has provided substantial new arguments or evidence that they need to consider.

Standard template wording for giving HMRC's view of the matter can be found at ARTG15000.

Once the decision maker has notified the customer of HMRC’s view of the matter, the review time limit begins. The decision maker should submit to the review team in HMRC Legal Group within 7 calendar days using the Review Submissions SharePoint page.

The decision maker should make sure that they provide all the information the review officer will need to review the matter thoroughly, see ARTG4330.

If the customer has also asked for the disputed tax to be postponed until the dispute is settled, see ARTG2500.