Tax

Who can you complain to?


Contact the tax/inland revenue office you have been dealing with (address in the telephone book under inland revenue). You will be given a contact name or number in any correspondence from the inland revenue (this could be the person dealing with your case or the officer in charge of the office/unit concerned).

If you do not know which office deals with your tax you should call 0207 667 4001.

If the tax office cannot settle your complaint contact the director who has overall responsibility for that office or unit. If you have had a problem with the valuation office agency, contact the director of that office.

The director will let you know the outcome within 15 working days. There are 13 directors with responsibilities for different regions in the UK. Their contact details can be found at the end of the inland revenue's leaflet You and the inland revenue.

You can contact the national insurance complaints office on 0191 225 9119.

If you are still dissatisfied contact the adjudicator's office:
Haymarket House, 28 Haymarket, London, SW1Y 4SP (Tel: 020 7930 2292; Fax: 020 7930 2298) Email: adjudicators@gtnet.gov.uk

You should contact them within six months after the inland revenue director or valuation office agency director has provided you with an answer you are unhappy with.

Include in your letter:
• your name and address (including a daytime telephone number)
• explain exactly what you are dissatisfied about
• the name of the inland revenue or valuation office agency involved and, if you know it, your reference and national insurance number
• say what you want the inland revenue or valuation office agency to do to settle your complaint
• give details of any costs you have incurred as a result of the action about which you are complaining

The adjudicator will only look into a complaint if the department against whom the complaint has been made has had a chance to look into this at a senior level first.

Also see the information leaflets: How to complain about the inland revenue and the valuation office agency and You and the inland revenue.

Appeals against decisions about your tax, national insurance contributions, statutory sick pay and statutory maternity pay are dealt with by the tax appeal commissioners. See the inland revenue leaflet IR37 Appeals for further details, or the special commissioners of income tax and VAT & duties tribunals website.


What grounds do you have to complain?


The inland revenue's codes of practice sets out its standards of practice.

According to these codes, a serious mistake could include an instance where the inland revenue have:
• taken a wholly unreasonable view of the law - as opposed to a genuine difference of opinion with you about the law
• started or pursued enquiries into matters which were obviously trivial on the basis of the facts available at the time
• made what would normally be a simple or trivial mistake but the particular circumstances required them to take more care because they should have known that a mistake could have serious consequences


You can complain to the adjudicator's office about the inland revenue and valuation office agency, the national insurance contributions office of the inland revenue and customs and excise.

You can complain to the adjudicator about the way things have been handled by the department in question. This includes:
• mistakes
• delays
• poor or misleading advice
• staff attitude or behaviour
• how departments have exercised discretion
• how requests for information are dealt with

The adjudicator cannot look at matters which:
• can be, or have been, considered by an independent tribunal
• matters which have already been investigated by the parliamentary ombudsman
• matters which relate to criminal prosecution or investigation while the investigation or prosecution is still happening

The most common examples of complaints which they do not deal with are where someone is in dispute with the inland revenue or customs and excise about the amount of tax or VAT which they have to pay. These types of problem are dealt with by the tax appeal commissioners (see above for details).


Will you get a fair hearing?


The first part of the complaints process is internal.

The adjudicator is independent of the inland revenue.


What will happen if you're successful?


If the inland revenue makes a serious mistake in dealing with your tax affairs, they will pay any reasonable costs you incur as a direct result of our mistake. This could include: professional fees, incidental personal expenses, or wages or fees which you would have earned and which you lost through having to sort things out. They could also include such items as postage and telephone charges.

If there is no good reason for delay, or a series of delays on the same point, and, exceptionally, the unreasonable delay is more than two years in total, the inland revenue will also consider making a payment as consolation for the delay.

Typically any payment is likely to be in the range ?50 to ?250, but payments of higher amounts, up to ?1,000, may be made in appropriate circumstances. In extreme cases a higher payment will be considered, but it is unlikely to exceed ?2,000.

The adjudicator can:
• ask the department to apologise for mistakes which have happened if they have not previously apologised
• where there have been serious or repeated mistakes or serious delays, she may recommend that the department pay compensation


Compensation can include:
• reimbursing the additional costs which have actually been incurred as a result of the department's mistake or delay
• payments in recognition of the distress and upset which may have been caused, although these tend to be quite small in comparison with expectations
• in some circumstances, the department will give up tax or interest which was due


Anything else you can do?


You can only appeal the adjudicator's recommendation if you send her fresh evidence which she has not already considered and which is fundamental to her decision.

You can ask your MP to refer your complaint to the independent parliamentary ombudsman. Further information is available from: Millbank Tower, Millbank, London, SW1P 4QP (Tel: 020 7276 2130) Email: OPCA.Enquiries@ombudsman.gsi.gov.uk

Useful links
Inland revenue
Adjudicator's office
Appeals against tax
The tax team
Income tax guide 2001