Clifford Chance

Analysis First-tier Tribunal Rule 18: collective law?

11 April 2012

Where two or more appeals before the First-tier Tribunal (FTT) raise a related issue, the Tribunal may nominate one of them as a 'lead case' and stay the others. The FTT's decision in the lead case will bind the related cases. This raises various risks for taxpayers. HMRC may argue cases are related even when they are not, or seek to stay one case in favour of another where the taxpayer's position is weaker. Perhaps two-thirds of the entire FTT tax caseload is being held over behind lead cases of one kind or another and that may be hindering swift access to justice.

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