Summer 2009 Newsletter Content Pot and kettle No more stealth Pensions hit A place in the sun Ready or not... Nice motor Making allowances Good times, bad times Tax-free checkup Three square meals Funny question Dividend rules OK? Too good to be true? Pay my friend Early EIS Mind the halfpennies Just the ticket Flat rate changes Foreign Service This year, next year Partial exemption Penalties Compliance checks Under their eye Howzat? Know your rights Discipline Don't be mean Redundancy Two sorts of absence Warranties

Howzat? The system for appealing against HM Revenue & Customs decisions on most tax matters changed radically on 6 April 2009. It's always been possible to debate a point with them by correspondence or in a meeting, but now there is the opportunity to require them to carry out an independent review. This means a different officer must consider the case and either confirm or modify the decision within a statutory procedure and a time limit of 45 days. It will be interesting to see how HMR&C cope with this - it puts them on the spot to justify their position, or to meet a taxpayer's arguments, within a set timescale. If the review is unsatisfactory, or if a review is unlikely to help, it's still possible to appeal to a Tribunal. There is a new court structure for tax and VAT appeals - the old General and Special Commissioners and VAT Tribunals have gone and been replaced by a First-Tier and an Upper Tribunal. It's too early to say what practical difference this will make to appeals, but we are assured that the new system will improve on the old. If you receive a tax decision that you want to dispute - whether it's an assessment, a demand for information, or an instruction to treat a transaction in a certain way - we can help you decide how to take your argument forward.