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The relevant case law principles
The relevant case law principles
We have been referred by the parties to a significant body of case law in relation to this ground of appeal. We have taken the parties’ submissions on those authorities into account, but do not intend to comment on all of them in this decision. It will be sufficient for us to focus on the leading authorities.
In addition, notwithstanding Mr Hayhurst’s submissions that there is a general principle applicable to both proceedings in appeals against tax assessments as well as penalty assessments, we find it more straightforward to approach this ground of appeal by reviewing separately the principles that can be derived from the case law authorities in relation to appeals against tax assessments themselves before turning to those which can be derived from the case law authorities in relation to appeals against penalty assessments.
- Heading
- Introduction
- Background
- VAT
- Excise duties
- The FTT Decision
- The Grounds of Appeal
- Ground 1: the burden of proof
- Background
- The FTT Decision
- The parties’ submissions in outline
- The relevant case law principles
- The burden of proof in tax appeals
- The burden of proof in penalty appeals
- DLN
- Penalties under Schedule 24 FA 2007 and Schedule 41 FA 2008
- Ground 2: approach to the issues and evidence
- Background
- The FTT Decision
- Discussion
- Conclusion
- Ground 3: conclusions inconsistent with the underlying evidence
- Background
- The FTT decision
- The parties’ submissions in outline
- Discussion
- Application to the facts of this case
- Conclusion
- Ground 4: breach of “best judgment” requirement
- Background
- Relevant case law principles
- There are two distinct questions which arise where an assessment purports to be made under section 73(1) VATA: first, whether the assessment has been made under the power conferred by that section; an
- The test as to whether an assessment is made to the best of HMRC’s judgment is classically set out in the judgment of Woolf J in Van Boeckel , at page 292e-293a, where he said this
- As to whether an alleged error in an assessment is to be taken as evidence that the assessment was not made to the best of HMRC’s judgment, the relevant question is whether the mistake is consistent w
- There are, however, dangers in an over-rigid adherence to a two-stage approach (i.e. first, validity; second, quantum) to a challenge to a best judgment assessment. The important issue for the tribuna
- The FTT Decision
- The parties’ submissions in outline
- The only relevant test of whether the assessment met the best judgment requirement was whether the mistakes in the assessment were “consistent with an honest and genuine attempt to make a reasonable a
- Application to the facts of this case
- Ground 4
- Ground 5
- Conclusion
- Background
- In relation to Ground 3
- In relation to Ground 4
- In relation to Ground 5 Why, if there was a breach of the best judgement requirement, it rejected the Court of Appeal’s guidance in Pegasus Birds at [23-29] not to automatically set aside the whole assessment but instead to
- If the Tribunal considered Mr Foster’s failure to consider the York Wine bank statements was so “serious or fundamental” that it required the whole assessment to be set aside ( Pegasus Birds [29]), wh
- The parties’ submissions in outline
- Discussion
- Application to the facts of this case
- Conclusions