1. These Rules may be cited as the Value Added Tax Tribunals (Amendment) Rules 1997 and shall come into force on 1st March 1997.

2. In these Rules, a rule referred to by number alone means the rule so numbered in the Value Added Tax Tribunals Rules 1986(3).

3. In the Arrangement of Rules of the Value Added Tax Tribunals Rules 1986-

(a)in the entries relating to rules 7 and 8, for "a section 13" there shall be substituted "an evasion"; and

(b)after the entry relating to rule 8 there shall be inserted:-

"8A. Further provisions about statements of case.".

4. In rule 2-

(a)after the definition of the 1985 Act there shall be inserted-

""the 1994 Act" means the Finance Act 1994(4);

"the 1996 Act" means the Finance Act 1996(5);";

(b)in the definition of "appellant", for "the Finance Act 1994" there shall be substituted "the 1994 Act or section 55 of the 1996 Act";

(c)in the definition of "chairman", for the number "8" there shall be substituted "12";

(d)in the definition of "date of notification", after "or" there shall be inserted "a";

(e)in the definition of "evasion penalty appeal", for ", the Finance Act 1994" there shall be substituted "the 1994 Act or paragraph 18 or 19 of Schedule 5 to the 1996 Act";

(f)in the definition of "mitigation appeal", for "on the grounds" to the end there shall be substituted-

• "on grounds confined to those set out in section 13(4) of the 1985 Act (in respect of penalties imposed before 27th July 1993), or with respect to the amount of a penalty or (as the case may be) interest solely under section 70 of the Act, section 8(4) of or paragraph 13 of Schedule 7 to the 1994 Act or paragraph 25 or 28 of Schedule 5 to the 1996 Act;";

(g)in the definition of "the President", for "duties" there shall be substituted "Duties";

(h)in the definition of "reasonable excuse appeal"-

(i)for "the liability to or the amount of a" there shall be substituted "any liability to or the amount of any";

(ii)for "65" there shall be substituted "65(3)";

(iii)for "66" there shall be substituted "66(7)";

(iv)for the words from "sections 9" to the end there shall be substituted "section 10(4) or 11(4) of or any of paragraphs 14(3), 15(5), 16(4), 17(3), 18(2) or 19(4) of Schedule 7 to the 1994 Act;";

(i)in the definition of "Vice-President", for "VAT and duties tribunals" there shall be substituted "the VAT and Duties Tribunals".

5. In the headings of rules 7 and 8, for "a section 13" there shall be substituted "an evasion".

6. After rule 8, there shall be inserted-

"Further provisions about statements of case

8A. Where on an appeal against a decision with respect to an assessment or the amount of an assessment the Commissioners wish to contend that an amount specified in the assessment is less than it ought to have been, they shall so state in their statement of case in that appeal, indicating the amount of the alleged deficiency and the manner in which it has been calculated.".

7.-(1) In rule 9(1), "-(1)" shall be omitted.

(2) Rule 9(2) shall be omitted.

8. In rule 16(2), after "the Act", there shall be inserted "or under section 56(3), (4) or (5) of the 1996 Act".

9. In rule 19(3A), after "the Act" there shall be inserted "or paragraph 19 of Schedule 5 to the 1996 Act".

10. In rule 20(1A), for "the Finance Act 1994" there shall be substituted "the 1994 Act or section 54 of the 1996 Act".

11. In rule 21(4) the words "at the appropriate tribunal centre", occurring after "notification of such witness statement", shall be omitted.

12. In rule 23-

(a)in paragraph (1), before "place" there shall be inserted "the"; and

(b)after paragraph (3) there shall be inserted-

"(4) A proper officer shall send a notice stating the date and time when, and the place where, a hearing for the purpose of giving directions relating to an appeal will take place to the parties to the appeal which, unless the parties otherwise agree, shall be not earlier than 14 days after the date on which the notice is sent.".

Explanatory Note

(This note is not part of the Rules)

These Rules amend the Value Added Tax Tribunals Rules 1986 to provide for the new jurisdiction to be given to the VAT and duties tribunals by the Finance Act 1996. The new jurisdiction covers appeals relating to landfill tax.

The Rules also make some minor amendments to the existing procedure and some minor improvements to the wording of the 1986 Rules.