The Tax Chamber of the First-tier Tribunal has published updated guidance which it asks parties to appeals to follow in the preparation and submission of PDF hearing bundles, to improve consistency in the way documents are provided for use in hearings before the FTT. A PDF hearing bundle is a single document containing an organised collection of electronic copies of documents for use at the hearing of an appeal.
The revised guidance focuses on the format and features of bundles, including making sure the text of the document is readable and searchable as text, rather than being a photograph – to help all parties find and highlight words in the bundle. Along with a number of comments around general format, the guidance asks for an index or table of contents to be prepared, providing a brief description of each document included in the bundle and hyperlinked through to the document itself. The FTT encourages parties to provide a single PDF rather than multiple separate files, where possible.
The instructions in the guidance should be followed ‘unless there is a good reason not to do so or there are specific directions by the tribunal or the judge hearing the appeal to adopt a different approach’.
In a general guidance note on appeals, the Tax Chamber has asked all parties to continue to communicate with the Tribunal by email, in line with its approach since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, and to inform the Tribunal at the time the appeal is submitted where this is not possible.
The Tax Chamber of the First-tier Tribunal has published updated guidance which it asks parties to appeals to follow in the preparation and submission of PDF hearing bundles, to improve consistency in the way documents are provided for use in hearings before the FTT. A PDF hearing bundle is a single document containing an organised collection of electronic copies of documents for use at the hearing of an appeal.
The revised guidance focuses on the format and features of bundles, including making sure the text of the document is readable and searchable as text, rather than being a photograph – to help all parties find and highlight words in the bundle. Along with a number of comments around general format, the guidance asks for an index or table of contents to be prepared, providing a brief description of each document included in the bundle and hyperlinked through to the document itself. The FTT encourages parties to provide a single PDF rather than multiple separate files, where possible.
The instructions in the guidance should be followed ‘unless there is a good reason not to do so or there are specific directions by the tribunal or the judge hearing the appeal to adopt a different approach’.
In a general guidance note on appeals, the Tax Chamber has asked all parties to continue to communicate with the Tribunal by email, in line with its approach since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, and to inform the Tribunal at the time the appeal is submitted where this is not possible.
