HISTORY

nigel gibbon & co was founded by Nigel Gibbon on 1st February 1999 and has been helping clients in difficulties with what was, at the time, HMC&E and is now HMRC ever since. Prior to that Nigel qualified as a solicitor in 1984 and spent 3 years defending thieves, murderers and rapists before joining the Solicitor's Office of HMC&E in London, conducting VAT appeals for HMC&E from 1988 onwards. In 1990 he set up the VAT and Duties appeals division in HMC&E's new Manchester office, which he ran until 1996 when he joined a national top-10 law firm as head of indirect tax. But the work was transactional rather than dispute based and the lure of VAT litigation proved too much. So, in 1999, nigel gibbon & co was born and the firm continues to flourish 23 years later.

SERVICES

nigel gibbon & co offers a unique service in a niche area of the law. We specialise in the representation of businesses in disputes with HMRC both in the statutory review process within HMRC and in appeals to the Tax Chamber of the independent First-tier Tribunal (which we call “the Tax Tribunal”).

We concentrate on giving advice and assistance to VAT or Customs/Excise consultants, accountants, solicitors and other fellow professionals whose clients are in dispute with HMRC in relation to VAT or Customs/Excise issues but we occasionally accept instructions direct from businesses.

We provide a level of service tailored to the individual case. This might mean, at one end of the scale, providing advocacy services for a specific Appeal hearing, leaving our partner practitioner to “run” the case generally. At the other end of the scale, we might be asked to take over a case lock, stock and barrel – including all contact with the client.

Most decisions of HM Revenue & Customs concerning VAT, Customs Duty or Excise Duties can be appealed initially by way of a departmental statutory review and thereafter to the Tax Tribunal; for instance :

• assessments for under-declared VAT;
• claims for repayments of overpaid VAT;
• the VAT liability of supplies (ie. standard rated, zero rated or exempt);
• penalties for inaccuracies in VAT returns or surcharges for late returns;
• tariff classification of imported products;
• import valuation;
• customs duty reliefs and preferences
• liability to excise duties (eg. tobacco duty or duty on alcohol).

Such appeals are becoming more and more common as HMRC tries to maximise indirect tax revenues in these challenging economic times.

The statutory review process is not mandatory but can sometimes produce results without the time and expense of an appeal to the Tax Tribunal.

Often, however, it becomes necessary to appeal to the Tribunal and, although though VAT was heralded as a “simple tax” when it was introduced, and even though the Tribunal appeals system was originally supposed to be informal and user friendly, the truth today is very different.

VAT is anything but “simple”; Customs Duty can be a minefield; and appeals to the Tax Tribunal are regulated by The Tribunal Procedure (First-tier Tribunal) (Tax Chamber Rules) which is Statutory Instrument 273/2009. The Rules run to 42 regulations which go from determining whether an appeal can be entertained by the Tribunal; to the situations in which an appeal may be heard in the absence of a party; to the role of the Upper Tribunal in complex cases and in further appeals. Simple they are not!

We are specialists in the Tax Tribunal appeals procedure and our primary aim is to assist fellow practitioners to offer a first class and cost efficient appeals service to their clients.

We also represent clients in appeals from the Tax Tribunal to the Upper Tribunal and assist clients in further appeals to the Court of Appeal or to the Supreme Court and, prior to Brexit, several clients of ours were involved in references to the European Court of Justice.

Although we specialise in taking cases to appeal at the Tax Tribunal, we also subscribe to the first rule of litigation – that it is better to settle a case, if at all possible, than to risk the uncertainties inherent in all litigation. An appeal to the Tax Tribunal should always be viewed as a last resort and no opportunity should be lost to engage HMRC in discussions with a view to reaching an agreed settlement (mindful of the maxim that a "good" settlement is one with which either party is entirely happy!).

It is vital, however, that early advice should be sought before engaging HMRC in negotiations because saying or doing the wrong thing at the wrong time might well prejudice the possibility of a successful settlement and might also adversely affect the final outcome of any appeal to the Tax Tribunal.