TaxSource Total

Here you can access and search summaries of relevant Irish, UK and international case law written by Chartered Accountants Ireland

The case summaries are displayed per year, per month and by case title with links to the case source

Westview Rail Limited v R&C Commrs TC00215

This case was concerned with an appeal brought to the First-tier Tribunal by Westview Rail Limited against the cancellation of its registration for gross payment status within the Construction Industry Scheme (CIS) by HMRC.

Background

To meet the registration requirements with the CIS, the company must satisfy three conditions: “the business test”, the “turnover test”, and the “compliance test”. Westview Rail Limited satisfied the business test and the turnover test but it did not satisfy the compliance test in that for the 12 months to 17 October 2008 the monthly payments due under the Company's PAYE scheme were made between one and 300 days late and corporation tax due remained outstanding.

The company was notified of cancellation of its registration for gross payment status and the company's accountants responded by letter appealing the removal of the status. However, the letter did not set out reasons appealing the cancellation as required by section 67(3) of FA2004.

Section 31A(5) TMA 1970, which had similar terms to section 67(3) of FA 2004, provided that the notice had to specify the grounds of appeal. In the case Jacques v Revenue and Customs Commissioners [2006] STC (SCD), section 31A(5) TMA 1970 was held to be mandatory. Given the similarity between section 67(3) and section 31A(5) TMA, the Tribunal found that the appeal notice must state reasons for believing that the gross payment status should not be cancelled.

Decision

The Tribunal dismissed the appeal on the grounds that the company's accountants did not provide any reason why the registration for gross payment status should not be cancelled despite written requests from HMRC. The effect of such was that there was no appeal and consequently the company's registration for gross payment status remained cancelled.

If the notice of appeal was held to be valid, the appeal would have been dismissed anyway on the grounds that the company failed to establish any reasonable excuse for failing the “compliance test”.

The full text of the case can be accessed at http://www.financeandtaxtribunals.gov.uk/judgmentfiles/j4578/TC00215.doc