ARTG8440 | First-tier and Upper Tribunals: Preparing for tribunal: Communication with the customer

Contact with the customer will not end when an appeal is with the tribunal. Even close to the hearing it may still be appropriate to settle the case by agreement.

For example, this might be appropriate if new information is provided by the customer, see ARTG8450, or if we decide not to defend the case at tribunal.

The litigator should consider whether a meeting could add value in other cases.

If progress is being made towards an agreement after the customer has notified an appeal to the tribunal, either the customer or HMRC can apply to the tribunal for the hearing to be postponed or adjourned, see ARTG8500.

If agreement is reached on the dispute, the papers should be sent back to the decision maker to take any necessary action to give effect to the agreement.

The dispute will be settled under S54 TMA 1970 or equivalent (direct taxes) or S85 VATA 1994 (indirect taxes). But see ARTG11040 where the customer and HMRC agree to a lower amount of tax than would have been charged as a result of the original decision.