In Spring Capital v HMRC (TC02461 – 24 January) HMRC issued a notice of enquiry under FA 1998 Sch 18 para 24 into a company’s tax return. The company appealed. HMRC applied for the appeal to be struck out on the grounds that there was no right of an appeal against the opening of an enquiry under Sch 18 para 24. The FTT accepted this contention and struck out the appeal. Judge Mosedale observed that ‘there is no right of appeal against a notice opening an enquiry. This is not surprising as one is not needed: the notice of enquiry is nothing more than an opening of enquiries to check the correctness of the return.’
Why it matters: The First-tier Tribunal upheld HMRC’s view that there is no right of an appeal against a notice opening an enquiry. Judge Mosedale’s comments are self-explanatory.
