Taxes Management Act 1970 section 31C

Appeals: appeals to Special Commissioners

Section 31C provided for certain tax appeals to be heard by the Special Commissioners rather than the General Commissioners, but has been repealed following the transfer of tribunal functions.

• Section 31C originally allowed taxpayers or HMRC to elect for appeals to be heard by the Special Commissioners instead of the General Commissioners.
• The Special Commissioners handled more complex or technical tax disputes, whereas the General Commissioners dealt with more straightforward matters.
• This section was repealed by the Transfer of Tribunal Functions and Revenue and Customs Appeals Order 2009 (SI 2009/56), which came into effect under article 1(2) and Schedule 1 paragraph 21 of that Order.
• Tax appeals are now heard by the First-tier Tribunal (Tax Chamber), which replaced both the General and Special Commissioners as part of the unified tribunal system.