Tax disputes

A tax dispute rarely starts as a disagreement about law. It starts with an assessment larger than expected, a demand to pay while the question is still open, and a limited time in which to explain why the figure is wrong. Businesses that answer in haste tend to argue the numbers and overlook the procedure; those that wait tend to find that the choice of forum, and some of their strongest arguments, have been settled for them.

Contesting a tax runs partly inside the administration and partly before the courts, and each stage has its own form, its own evidence and its own cost. What is decided at the start shapes what can still be argued at the end:

• the rules on objecting to an assessment within the administration, and on the form and content an objection must take;
• the rules on which court or tribunal hears a tax case, and on the levels of appeal above it;
• the rules on the burden of proof, and on who must establish what when the facts are contested;
• the rules on new evidence and new arguments, and on how late in the proceedings they may still be raised;
• the rules on paying a disputed amount, suspending collection, and the security an authority may require in the meantime;
• the rules on interest charged on tax found to be due, and paid on tax found to have been overpaid;
• the rules on mediation, conciliation and other ways of ending a dispute without a judgment;
• the rules on enforced collection — attachments, liens, and the personal liability of directors for a company’s unpaid tax.

Our lawyers can support you with this.