Revenue eBrief No. 21/16

15 February 2016

Transition to the reformed tax and duty appeals process

Following a public consultation on the reform of the tax and duty appeals process carried out by the Department of Finance, the Finance (Tax Appeals) Act 2015 was enacted on 25 December 2015. The Act contains wide-ranging provisions designed to improve the transparency and efficiency of the appeals process and to strengthen the independence of the new established Tax Appeals Commission (TAC). One of the more important measures to strengthen the independence of the TAC will be the requirement for appeals to be submitted directly to the TAC instead of through Revenue.

While the Act has been enacted, it requires the making of a Commencement Order before it can come into operation. The making of such an Order is at the discretion of the Minister for Finance. Until the Act is commenced, all of the current appeal procedures will continue to apply. In particular, taxpayers and agents are reminded that notices of appeal should continue to be submitted to Revenue in the first instance.

Revenue understands that some taxpayers/agents have submitted notices of appeal directly to the TAC. Pending the commencement of the Act, the TAC will refer any appeals received by it to Revenue to be processed in the usual way. In such cases, compliance with the statutory time limit that is allowed for making the appeal will be assessed by reference to the timing of the submission of the notice of appeal to the TAC and not when the TAC refers the appeal to Revenue.

For further information see Tax and Duty Manual Part 40-00-00: Transition to the reformed tax and duty appeals process.