Taxes Management Act 1970 section 49D

Notifying appeal to the tribunal

Section 49D sets out when a taxpayer who has already lodged an appeal with HMRC may escalate that appeal to the independent tax tribunal for a decision.

• Once an appeal has been given to HMRC, the appellant has the right to notify the appeal to the tribunal, which will then decide the matter.
• This general right does not apply if HMRC have already issued their view of the matter under the review process (section 49B) or have offered a review (section 49C).
• Where HMRC have begun or offered a review, the appellant may only notify the appeal to the tribunal in the specific circumstances permitted by sections 49G or 49H.
• In practice, this means taxpayers should consider whether to engage with HMRC's review process first, as doing so changes the route and timing for taking the appeal to the tribunal.