Guides - Tax Tribunal Help

Guides

Goods, Car Or Cash Seized? Customs Seizure And Restoration Appeals

Border Force seized your alcohol, tobacco or car? There are two separate routes—and a one-month trap. Why the tax tribunal cannot order your goods back, when it can still help, and the deadline that closes first.

Guides

Accelerated Payment Notices And Follower Notices Explained

You've had an accelerated payment notice or follower notice and discovered there's no appeal to the tribunal. Here's what these notices are, why the law works this way, the 90-day clock, the penalties—and the limited ways you can still challenge them.

Guides

Making Tax Digital For Income Tax: What Sole Traders And Landlords Must Do Now

Making Tax Digital for Income Tax went live in April 2026. Find out if it applies to you, the four things it requires, how to claim an exemption if you genuinely can't go digital, and your appeal rights if you're already facing a penalty.

Guides

When HMRC Queries Or Delays Your VAT Registration

A V5 letter instead of a VAT number? HMRC's verification questionnaires decoded, the deadlines that bite, and why the tribunal can't fix delay.

Guides

Schedule 36 Information Notices: HMRC's Power To Demand Documents

A Schedule 36 notice compels documents and triggers escalating penalties. Here's what you can appeal, what you can refuse, and how to respond in time.

Guides

Postponing Payment During An Appeal: How Section 55 TMA 1970 Works

Filing a tax appeal does not automatically postpone payment—HMRC can still enforce the full amount. Here's how to apply for postponement under section 55, the 30-day deadline, and what happens to interest and penalties while you wait.

Guides

Discovery Assessments: When HMRC Can Reopen Your Tax And How To Challenge It

HMRC can assess additional tax years after you filed your return—but only if strict conditions are met. Here's what a discovery assessment is, when HMRC can and cannot make one, and the five grounds you can use to challenge it.

Guides

Appealing To The Upper Tribunal: How To Challenge A First-Tier Tribunal Decision

You can challenge a First-tier Tribunal decision at the Upper Tribunal—but only on a point of law, and the costs rules change fundamentally. If you lose, you will most likely pay HMRC's legal costs. Here's the full process, with every deadline and form you need.

Guides

Your Right To Written Reasons: Rule 35 And When The Tribunal Must Explain Its Decision

If you received a tax tribunal decision without full reasons, you have just 14 days to request them—down from 28 days since March 2026. Here's how to protect your right to appeal.

Guides

Unreasonable Conduct Costs: When The Tribunal Can Award Costs Against You (Or HMRC)

In most FTT cases each side pays its own costs. But when one side has been unreasonable, the tribunal can shift them. Here's how the test works, what the case law says, and how to make or defend a costs application.

Guides

Interest On Unpaid Tax: How HMRC Calculates It And What You Can Do

HMRC charges interest at 7.75% on unpaid tax—running from the original due date, not from when you found out. Here's how the calculation works, why it differs from penalties, and what you can do about it.

Guides

Writing Your Grounds of Appeal: What To Say (And What To Avoid)

Your grounds of appeal are the most important thing you write. Here's what effective grounds look like—telling the tribunal what HMRC got wrong, why it matters, and what you want instead.