Can I appeal an HMRC information notice?

Schedule 36 Finance Act 2008 gives a right of appeal against most taxpayer information notices, on the grounds that the information or documents requested aren't reasonably required for checking your tax position, or that complying would be unduly onerous. The appeal goes to the First-tier Tribunal (Tax Chamber).

Two significant categories fall outside this right. First, notices requiring statutory records, the records you're legally required to keep anyway, generally can't be appealed on relevance grounds, since keeping them isn't optional. Second, notices the tribunal has already approved in advance can't be appealed again on the same point, because a tribunal has already tested the request.

You must appeal in writing within 30 days of the date of the notice, setting out clearly why you consider the information isn't reasonably required or the request disproportionate. HMRC's own guidance usually invites you to ask for an internal review first, which can resolve the disagreement without going to tribunal, though you're not obliged to take that route before appealing.

If the matter proceeds to tribunal, you'll need to explain your grounds in more detail, and HMRC will set out why it considers the information relevant. Tribunal decisions on Schedule 36 appeals are generally quicker and less formal than full tax appeals, but professional input still helps frame the argument properly.

Strong grounds typically include the notice asking for documents with no clear connection to the tax year or issue under check, requests that are disproportionately wide relative to the amounts involved, or documents that simply don't exist or have already been provided. A notice that duplicates an earlier, already-answered request is also worth challenging.

Weak grounds include general reluctance to share information, inconvenience alone, or disagreement with HMRC opening the check in the first place, none of which the tribunal is likely to accept as a reason the specific documents aren't required.

Once you've appealed a notice, you don't generally have to comply with the disputed items until the appeal is resolved, though it's sensible to keep cooperating with any parts of the notice you're not disputing. This avoids a separate penalty for non-compliance building up on uncontested items while the appeal is pending.

If the tribunal upholds the notice, you'll usually be given a fresh, reasonable period to comply from the date of its decision, rather than being treated as already out of time.

Many disputes over Schedule 36 notices are resolved by direct negotiation with HMRC, particularly where the objection is really about scope rather than principle, for example asking HMRC to narrow the years or accounts covered. Escalating straight to tribunal makes more sense where HMRC has already refused to narrow the request and the amounts or principle at stake justify the time and cost.

Because the 30-day window is strict, it's worth raising your objection with HMRC early and, if it isn't resolved informally, submitting a protective appeal before the deadline rather than continuing to negotiate past it.