Valid notice

The taxpayer’s accountant lodged protective appeals against estimated assessments for the years 1991/92 to 1995/96.

The hearing was adjourned twice. When it finally came to be heard in November 2009 the appellant’s accountant said that it should be adjourned again. This was because HMRC had not established that the appellant was a partnership and also they had addressed the notice of the hearing incorrectly.

The First-tier Tribunal refused the adjournment. The accountant withdrew leaving the appellant unrepresented.

The tribunal proceeded on the basis that reasonable steps had been taken to notify the appellant of the hearing.

Partnership was defined in the Partnership Act 1890 s 1 as ‘the relation which subsists between persons carrying on a business in common with a view to a profit’.

This fitted the relationship between those involved with the appellant. Therefore the tribunal...