Navigating Tax Disputes: From HMRC Investigations to Tribunals and Judicial Review

Overview

• Tax disputes and appeals in overview 
• Key issues and pitfalls

Transition from tax enquiry to tax appeal: key points

• Appeal versus offer to review versus options for Alternative Dispute Resolution
• Key evidential and legal issues to identify and evaluate

How to obtain a closure notice

• Scope of taxpayer right to apply for a closure notice
  • Jurisdiction and powers of FTT
  • Making the application

Dealing with an HMRC decision letter

• Is there a right of appeal?
• Maximising opportunities under the review process
• How to deal with a late appeal

Notice of appeal and grounds of appeal

• Appeal process for direct and indirect appeals
• Key points on preparing and completing a notice of appeal
• Key points on preparing and completing grounds of appeal - the opportunity to engage in written advocacy
• VAT and hardship applications

Allocation of appeal

• Standard and complex case allocation
• Issues arising from allocation

Case preparation

• Strategic review
• Review of facts/documents
• Preparation of chronology
• Preparation of issues matrix
• Review of law/statute/case law

Case management: common directions and request for bespoke directions

• Directions timetable
• Common elements: statement of case, list of documents, witness statements
• Bespoke directions: statement of agreed facts, hearing date, expert witnesses, privacy of hearing, lead case application

HMRC statement of case

• What to do on receipt of the statement of case
• Requesting further and better particulars from HMRC
• Reply to a statement of case

Disclosure: List of documents

• Disclosure of documents: scope of legal professional privilege
• Undertaking a review of documents
• Inspection of documents: practical issues

Disclosure: Witness statements

• How to take a witness statement
• Interview of witness
• Form of witness statement

Agreed statement of facts

• Purpose and limitations

Skeleton arguments

• Purpose and preparation / drafting / limitations

Preparation for the hearing and at the hearing

• Key aspects of preparation
• What to expect at the hearing
• The tribunal: composition

Dealing with the FTT decision

• Review of decision
• How to appeal, if appropriate

Demystifying judicial review and tax disputes: uses, what is involved and pitfalls

• Jurisdiction / Public Law / FTT
• JR Claims in overview
• Pre-action protocol letter and reply / drafting and what to address
• Grounds for Judicial Review
• Statement of Facts and Grounds
• Witness Evidence
• Permission Stage
• Oral renewal hearing
• Full hearing

Case Studies - Practical case studies and examples will be included throughout the day.

The lead trainer for this Part 8 Claims course was called to the Bar in 1995, he brings a wealth of experience gained from a distinguished career that spans both the independent Bar and senior positions within leading City and international law firms. He has also worked in New York and the Cayman Islands. His practice is dispute-led, with a strong emphasis on the intersection between legal, commercial, and tax issues.

He is a specialist in tax law and its associated fields, including commercial chancery, equity, company law, cryptocurrency and digital assets, partnerships, insolvency, and professional negligence. He advises on complex investigations and appears regularly for corporate entities, individuals, and HMRC at both trial and appellate levels. Much of his work involves high-value or technically challenging disputes, often arising from cross-border transactions or cases with voluminous documentation. He also has experience advising and representing individuals in matters involving allegations of fraud, including criminal tax investigations.

The trainer was awarded a Ph.D. (University of London) in Tax Law relating to intellectual property and its exploitation. He is co-author of Taxation of Intellectual Property (Bloomsbury Publishing), A Practical Guide to Tax Disputes (Lexis) and Internet Business (Commerce and Tax) (Jordans).

He is ranked as a Leading Practitioner in Chambers UK Bar 2025 and has particular expertise in areas such as corporate structures, partnerships, intellectual property, trusts, and insolvency, allowing him to provide strategic, commercially attuned advice across a broad range of contentious and non-contentious matters.

He appears regularly in courts and tribunals across the UK, including London, Manchester, and Edinburgh, acting both as sole counsel and as part of larger legal teams.

The course co-presenter is a dedicated tax specialist 'Pupil Barrister' with a rapidly developing practice encompassing a broad range of domestic and international tax matters. He read law at the age of 17 and was a Vice Chancellor International Scholar at Cardiff University. He was called to the Bar by the age of 21. Alongside his Bar studies he was working under a pre-eminent tax silk in the country.

Redcliffe's Tax Disputes training will teach you the following:

• When to appeal: advantages and disadvantages for the client
• Key points to discuss with clients considering an appeal
• How to appeal
• Key points to prepare for an appeal
• Common pitfalls to avoid
• Key points in dealing with tribunal directions for standard and complex category cases
• Settlement opportunities
• When to use Judicial Review, scope and nature of the available remedies

• Delivered by highly experienced trainers
• Practical case study examples will be provided
• Detailed and comprehensive course.

This Tax Disputes course is relevant to all lawyers, accountants, tax practitioners whether in private practice or employed in house, and general legal practitioners.

• Accountants and Chartered Accountants working in practice or in-house
• Tax advisers and consultants, including those involved in planning and structuring
• Private client, corporate tax, and trust professionals
• Legal professionals with clients receiving tax or accountancy advice
• Compliance officers and risk managers in accountancy or tax firms
• Trainees and junior professionals looking to understand professional responsibilities and risk exposure early in their careers