The president of the Tax Chamber of the First-tier Tribunal, Judge Greg Sinfield, has issued a statement to address recent criticism in the media of the chamber’s capacity to deal with its caseload.
The Financial Times reported on 28 April that the tribunal had suspended physical hearings until the end of June to stop the spread of coronavirus, potentially prolonging uncertainty for taxpayers, and speculating that the tribunal had for some time been under-resourced. The FT quotes Tim Brown, barrister at Temple Tax Chambers: ‘There are problems because the [FTT] is not geared up to hear cases which involve numerous witnesses that need to dial in ... Certain companies don’t believe they are able to survive’.
In response to media coverage, the president’s statement notes that ‘contrary to the impression given in those reports, the Tax Chamber is open for business and working both remotely and in person at its administrative centre in Birmingham to process new appeals and list existing appeals to be dealt with by judges either without a hearing on the papers or at a hearing by telephone and video.’
The statement clarifies that:
only a minority of cases are affected by the extended stay on physical hearings, with over 60% of cases already stayed on application by the parties;
all default paper cases are excluded from the further stay;
the number of cases outstanding at the end of March 2020 was lower than for the previous quarter, and lower than the figure for five out of the last six years;
new hearings continue to be listed, and hearings are being held by telephone or video during lockdown, with the tribunal using its own bespoke tax video platform for smaller hearings and a separate commercial platform for hearings with more than eight participants.
(For a practical guide on tax appeals to the tribunal during the current Covid-19 pandemic, see the link below.)
The president of the Tax Chamber of the First-tier Tribunal, Judge Greg Sinfield, has issued a statement to address recent criticism in the media of the chamber’s capacity to deal with its caseload.
The Financial Times reported on 28 April that the tribunal had suspended physical hearings until the end of June to stop the spread of coronavirus, potentially prolonging uncertainty for taxpayers, and speculating that the tribunal had for some time been under-resourced. The FT quotes Tim Brown, barrister at Temple Tax Chambers: ‘There are problems because the [FTT] is not geared up to hear cases which involve numerous witnesses that need to dial in ... Certain companies don’t believe they are able to survive’.
In response to media coverage, the president’s statement notes that ‘contrary to the impression given in those reports, the Tax Chamber is open for business and working both remotely and in person at its administrative centre in Birmingham to process new appeals and list existing appeals to be dealt with by judges either without a hearing on the papers or at a hearing by telephone and video.’
The statement clarifies that:
only a minority of cases are affected by the extended stay on physical hearings, with over 60% of cases already stayed on application by the parties;
all default paper cases are excluded from the further stay;
the number of cases outstanding at the end of March 2020 was lower than for the previous quarter, and lower than the figure for five out of the last six years;
new hearings continue to be listed, and hearings are being held by telephone or video during lockdown, with the tribunal using its own bespoke tax video platform for smaller hearings and a separate commercial platform for hearings with more than eight participants.
(For a practical guide on tax appeals to the tribunal during the current Covid-19 pandemic, see the link below.)
