Special appeal

HMRC issued a discovery assessment under TMA 1970 s 29 on the taxpayer. The taxpayer appealed claiming that there was no discovery and that the assessment should therefore not have been raised. He claimed that the matter should be heard by the General Commissioners rather than the Special Commissioner. This was because there was a separate issue to be considered i.e. whether or not there had been a discovery and that matter of fact could be decided by the General Commissioners.

At a preliminary hearing before the Special Commissioner the commissioner said that there was no statutory provision allowing an appeal against the making of a discovery assessment other than by appealing against the assessment. The taxpayer could only argue that the conditions for making the assessment were not fulfilled by appealing against the assessment itself. The particular assessment related to TA 1988 ...