Guidance: How to get a review of an HMRC decision

When HMRC sends you an appealable decision, we will tell you what to do if you disagree.

What you do next depends on whether the decision relates to direct or indirect tax. You can check a full list of direct and indirect taxes.

What to do if you disagree with a direct tax decision

You, or someone authorised to act on your behalf, can:

• write to HMRC to appeal the decision — you must do this within 30 days of the date on the decision letter and you’ll need to tell us what you disagree with and why

• send in more information to us that may help — such as a copy of a bank statement or receipts

We’ll consider your appeal and aim to reach an agreement with you. We find that most disagreements are resolved by discussing them with us.

If we do not reach an agreement

If we cannot reach an agreement with you, we’ll write to you to tell you what our current view of the matter is and we’ll offer you a statutory review.

A review is a potentially cost-effective and quick way of resolving disputes. A review will be carried out impartially by an officer who works in HMRC’s Solicitor’s Office and Legal Services directorate.

They are called ‘review officers’ and they specialise in review work. You can appeal to the tax tribunal if you disagree with the outcome of a review.

You, or someone authorised to act on your behalf, can either:

• accept the offer of a review by writing to us at the address on the letter setting out our current view of the matter

• appeal to the tax tribunal

You’ll have 30 days from the date on our letter to accept the offer of a review or appeal to the tax tribunal. If you do not take any action, the original decision will stand and your appeal will be treated as “settled by agreement”.

You can also ask for a review at any point after sending your appeal to us, you do not have to wait for our offer. We’ll then write to you to explain what our current view of the matter is, and your case will be reviewed by a review officer.

If you accept the offer of a review, you cannot ask the tax tribunal to hear your case until the review officer has told you the outcome of the review or the review period has ended.

You can appeal to the tax tribunal after sending an appeal to us, but you cannot have a review and appeal to the tax tribunal at the same time.

What to do if you disagree with an indirect tax decision

In our decision letter we’ll offer you a review and tell you how you can appeal to the tax tribunal.

A review is a potentially cost-effective and quick way of resolving disputes. A review will be carried out impartially by an officer who works in HMRC’s Solicitor’s Office and Legal Services directorate. They are called ‘review officers’ and they specialise in review work.

You can still appeal to the tax tribunal if you disagree with the outcome of a review. However, you cannot ask the tax tribunal to hear your case until the review period has ended or the review officer has told you the outcome of the review.

You, or someone authorised to act on your behalf, can either:

You’ll have 30 days to accept our offer of a review or appeal to the tax tribunal. If you do not take any action, the original decision will stand.

If you have more information to send to us but need more time to do this, you can ask us to extend the time limit for you to accept our offer of review. You should ask for any extension before the 30 day deadline.

What happens in a review

A review officer will consider if the decision is correct and in line with the relevant legislation and HMRC policy.

You can provide further information and make further representations, for the review officer to consider.

The review officer will write to you to confirm they have your review. The review will be completed within 45 days, or by any other time they’ve agreed with you (this is known as the ‘review period’).

When the review officer completes the review they’ll write to you to either:

• uphold the decision

• vary the decision

• cancel the decision

Review outcomes

An upheld decision means the original decision is unchanged. A varied decision means it is changed in some way.

If the review officer upholds or varies the decision and you agree the outcome, you will have to arrange to make payment of any amount you owe.

If you still disagree, you can appeal to the tax tribunal within 30 days of the review conclusion letter. If you appeal to the tax tribunal, you can also make an application for alternative dispute resolution.

If the decision is cancelled, you do not need to do anything.

If you want to appeal to the tax tribunal, make sure you attach a copy of the decision or the review conclusion letter (if you had a review) to your appeal notice. If you do not then the tax tribunal may not accept it.

Late appeals and review acceptances

If you miss the 30 day deadline to appeal to HMRC (direct tax) or accept the review offer (direct tax or indirect tax), you will need to have a reasonable excuse for missing the deadline. If we do not believe that there was a reasonable excuse, we’ll let you know.

Payment of tax during reviews and appeals

What you’ll need to do depends on whether it is direct tax or indirect tax.

For direct tax

You can ask us to postpone part or all of the tax in dispute until the appeal is settled. An application for postponement must be made within 30 days of our decision.

The appeal may be resolved by agreement between you and us, or decided by the tax tribunal.

You must then pay the tax due in line with the tax tribunal’s decision or the agreed settlement between you and HMRC. Interest will accrue during the review or tax tribunal process on any postponed or unpaid tax until it is paid.

For indirect tax

We’ll not collect the disputed tax while a review is being carried out — unless it’s a customs matter. Normally, you must pay the disputed tax before the tax tribunal can hear any appeal.

Interest will accrue during the review or tax tribunal process on any disputed or unpaid tax until it is paid.

You’ll have to pay any tax due in line with the decision, once the tax tribunal has made its decision — even if there is an appeal against it.

We’ll pay you any amounts due in line with the tax tribunal decision plus interest (where appropriate).

Making a hardship application for indirect tax decisions

If paying the tax would cause you hardship, you may ask us not to collect it until the tax tribunal has decided the matter. Tell us if you think this applies to you.

You can make a hardship application by writing to us at:

You should:

1. Give details of the appeal.

2. Tell us the reasons why you believe payment would cause hardship.

3. Tell us the amount you are asking to be suspended.

Appeal against a tax tribunal decision for indirect tax

If you appeal against the tax tribunal’s decision, you can ask us not to collect the tax due if paying it would cause you financial extremity. For example, by resulting in your bankruptcy or liquidation.

If there’s an appeal against the tax tribunal’s decision and we think there’s a risk that you will not pay any additional tax due, we can ask the Upper Tribunal or court for permission to either:

List of direct and indirect taxes

Direct taxes:

• Annual Tax on Enveloped Dwellings

• Apprenticeship Levy

• Capital Gains Tax

• Corporation Tax

• Digital Services Tax

• Diverted Profit Tax

• Employee related Share Schemes

• High Income Child Benefit

• Income Tax

• Inheritance Tax

• National Insurance contributions

• Petroleum Revenue Tax

• Stamp Duty Land Tax

• Stamp Duty Reserve Tax

• statutory payments

• student loan repayments

• tax avoidance schemes (penalty decisions relating to follower notices and accelerated payments)

• taxation of coronavirus (COVID-19) support payments

Indirect taxes:

• Aggregates Levy

• Air Passenger Duty

• Alcoholic Liquor Duties

• Alcohol Wholesaler Registration Scheme

• Bingo Duty

• Climate Change Levy

• Counter-Terrorism decisions

• Customs Duty

• Fulfilment house due diligence scheme

• Gaming Duty

• General Betting Duty

• Hydrocarbon Oils Duties

• Insurance Premium Tax

• Landfill Tax

• Lottery Duty

• Machine Games Duty

• money laundering decisions

• Plastic Packaging Tax (from April 2022)

• Pool Betting Duty

• Raw Tobacco Approval Scheme

• Remote Gaming Duty

• Soft Drinks Industry Levy

• Tobacco Products Manufacturing Machinery Licencing Scheme

• Tobacco Products Duty

• VAT

If you need extra support because of your personal circumstances you can get help from HMRC.

If you’re unhappy with the way we’ve handled your tax affairs you can contact HMRC to complain.