Tax cases double in four years
Tax tribunal cases near 27,000
A RECORD NUMBER of tax disputes set for litigation has led to the number of outstanding cases doubling over the past four years.
There were nearly 27,000 outstanding first-tier tribunal cases in 2012/2013, up from 13,456 in 2009/2010.
In the latest figures available, 1,395 cases were heard in 2009/2010, with HMRC winning two-thirds, reported the FT.
However, HMRC disputed that there was a ‘backlog’, saying that many cases were linked and many were settled before the date of the hearing.
The Alternative Dispute Resolution Service, which was recently introduced after a pilot by HMRC to settle tax wrangles, is viewed as a key tool in reducing the caseload.