Judgment summary
This was a strike out application brought by HMRC under Rule 8(2)(a) of the Tribunal Procedure (First-tier Tribunal) (Tax Chamber) Rules 2009, on the ground that the Tribunal had no jurisdiction to hear Mrs Ghani's appeal (3).
Mrs Ghani submitted a Notice of Appeal to the Tribunal on 16 June 2025, stating she was appealing directly to the Tribunal before receiving a response from HMRC or another agency (11). The only document submitted with the Notice of Appeal was a Statement of Liabilities dated 14 April 2025, showing a balancing charge of £20,101.73 and interest of £1,682 (15).
The Tribunal found that the Statement of Liabilities was not a decision of HMRC and was not an appealable decision (16, 25). It further found that interest on unpaid tax is statutory and not appealable in any event (21).
The Tribunal allowed HMRC's strike out application and directed that the appeal of 16 June 2025 be struck out (28).
Background
Mrs Ghani was normally taxed under self-assessment but was locked out of her self-assessment account for about eight months and was taxed under PAYE during that period, resulting in incorrect tax codes and an underpayment of tax that continued to increase until the issue was resolved (19).
Once the account was unlocked, following a complaint, Mrs Ghani submitted her self-assessment return, by which time a large underpayment had accrued, corresponding to the balancing charge shown in the Statement of Liabilities (19).
Mrs Ghani appealed the calculation and tax due by letter dated 30 April 2025, and, having received no reply, notified an appeal to the Tribunal on 16 June 2025 (22). As a result of the underpayment, HMRC issued a 30-day late payment penalty of £1,207, which Mrs Ghani appealed online on 6 April 2025, with a further online appeal or penalty appeal on 6 May 2025 (23). On 4 November 2025, HMRC sent Mrs Ghani a decision letter refusing her appeal against the late payment penalty, with the usual review and appeal rights and a deadline of 4 December 2025 (24).
Core dispute
HMRC submitted that the Tribunal had no jurisdiction to hear the appeal because the document included with the Notice of Appeal was not an appealable decision of HMRC, Mrs Ghani had not identified any statutory decision carrying a right of appeal, and she had not established that the proceedings constituted a valid notification under section 49D TMA 1970 of an appeal previously made to HMRC (5).
The question for the Tribunal was whether it had jurisdiction to hear the appeal notified on 16 June 2025, given the absence of any identifiable appealable HMRC decision at that time (3, 25).
Court findings
The Tribunal found that when Mrs Ghani appealed to the Tribunal on 16 June 2025, she had no appealable decision from HMRC (25). The Statement of Account was not a decision at all, and in any event related to the amount of tax due, which was subsequently paid, and to interest, which is not appealable (25, 21).
The Tribunal noted that Mrs Ghani did appeal to HMRC on 30 April 2025, but in relation to the wrong matters, so Rule 20 of the Rules was the relevant provision rather than section 49D TMA 1970 (26). The Tribunal agreed with HMRC that the Notice of Appeal of 16 June 2025 did not relate to an appealable decision, so the Tribunal had no jurisdiction to hear the appeal (27).
Outcome
The Tribunal allowed HMRC's strike out application and directed that the appeal of 16 June 2025 be struck out (28).
In further comments, not forming part of the decision, the Tribunal noted that HMRC's letter of 4 November 2025 refusing Mrs Ghani's appeal against the late payment penalty is an appealable decision (30). As that letter offered a statutory review which Mrs Ghani did not accept, she can in principle appeal to the Tribunal against the 4 November 2025 decision, but she is now out of time to do so (31). If she wishes to pursue the appeal against the penalty, she must appeal to the Tribunal and include an application for permission to make a late appeal, and if permission is granted she will have the opportunity to argue reasonable excuse based on being locked out of her self-assessment account (31).
Major issues / areas of contention
- Whether the Tribunal had jurisdiction to hear an appeal notified before any appealable HMRC decision existed.
- Whether a Statement of Liabilities constitutes an appealable decision of HMRC.
- Whether interest on unpaid tax can be the subject of an appeal.
- Whether section 49D TMA 1970 or Rule 20 of the Tribunal Procedure Rules governed the validity of the notification to the Tribunal.
- Whether a later HMRC decision refusing an appeal against a late payment penalty remained open to appeal, subject to an application for permission to appeal late.