Caution required before upsetting a case management decision

The appeal concerned a dispute over the stamp duty land tax due on grants of leases made in January 2010. In 2013 HMRC issued closure notices to the taxpayers increasing the duty based on its view of the open market value of the land.

The taxpayers appealed but very shortly afterwards made an application pursuant to FA 2003 Sch 10 para 45 – in essence that this was a valuation matter that had to be heard by the Lands Tribunal and should be referred there first. The First-tier Tribunal refused the application holding that questions of tax law had to be decided before the question of the market valuation. 

The Upper Tribunal allowed the application on the basis that the First-tier Tribunal had made an error of law in declining to make a reference. The taxpayers appealed.

The Court of Appeal decided the First-tier Tribunal had...