How Appealing

HMCTS tax appeal online service

When a taxpayer is unable to reach agreement with HMRC in a tax dispute and has exhausted all other options, the only course of action is to have their appeal heard before the tax tribunal.

For direct tax appeals, including income tax, PAYE tax, corporation tax, capital gains tax, NIC and statutory sick pay, statutory maternity pay and inheritance tax, appeals must be made to HMRC first before progressing the matter further to tribunal. Indirect tax matters, for example VAT, excise duty, customs duty, can usually be appealed straight to the tribunal.

The HM Courts and Tribunals Service (HMCTS) lets people submit their appeal online against certain decisions made by HMRC on their tax affairs and any penalties incurred.

The online appeal will be submitted to the tax tribunal so that the case can be considered by a judge and proceed to a hearing, if appropriate.

Using the service

To use the service you need:

• a scan or photo of the original HMRC notice or review conclusion letter
• reasons for appeal to copy and paste into the application or attach as a document

The service enables taxpayers to lodge their appeal and receive acknowledgement with a reference number in a one-step process.

During the lodgement process there is an option to upload documents thereby saving on postal costs.

A ‘save and return’ function allows users to save and revisit an appeal lodgement if they need to find further information, allowing them to return to their application at a later time.

The online lodgement process ensures that information is validated when entered into the system and so applications are less likely to be rejected for incomplete or incorrect information.

More information on how to take an appeal to the tax tribunal can be found here