Disagree with a tax decision
Get a review of a tax or penalty decision
If you disagree with a tax or penalty decision, you can either:
- accept the offer of a review by HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) and then appeal to the tax tribunal if you’re still not satisfied
- appeal directly to the tax tribunal
Reviews by HMRC are usually quicker than appeals to the tax tribunal.
You must appeal to HMRC first if you’re challenging a direct tax decision or a direct tax penalty.
If you accept a review by HMRC
You will have your tax decision reviewed by someone at HMRC who was not involved in the original decision. This is known as a ‘statutory review’.
HMRC will tell you when you can have a review.
Reviews usually take 45 days, but HMRC will contact you if it will take longer.
HMRC will write to tell you the result of its review.
Appealing to the tax tribunal
You can appeal to the tax tribunal:
- if you disagree with HMRC’s review decision - you must usually do this within 30 days of the review decision
- instead of accepting a review by HMRC
You can also consider alternative dispute resolution (ADR), but you need to appeal to the tax tribunal first.