UKFTT 269 (2009) Westview Rail Ltd v HMRC

Appeal without grounds - HMRC won

Case Summary: 

Westview Rail Limited appealed against the cancellation by HMRC of its registration for gross payment status within the Construction Industry Scheme. Section 67(3) FA 2004 provides that the “notice (of appeal) must state the person’s reasons for believing …” is drafted in similar terms to section 31A(5) TMA 1970 which provides that a “notice of appeal must specify the grounds of appeal.”

The need to specify the grounds of appeal in section 31A(5) TMA was held to be mandatory by the Special Commissioner in Jacques v Revenue and Customs Commissioners [2006] who,  said “I am bound to construe the words of the statute which is that the Notice of Appeal must specify the grounds of appeal.”

Westfield’s agents had appealed but had given no reasons so the Tribunal decided the appeal notice was invalid and there was effectively no appeal before it. They also decided that the company had also failed the compliance test and had given no reasonable excuse for its failure to comply with its tax obligations so even if the appeal had been valid they would have refused it.