ANNEX 1:: MINOR CHANGES IN THE LAW Change 2: References to “officer of Revenue and Customs”: sections 6, 81, 89, 91, 92, 134, 232, 235, 249, 252, 255, 256 and Schedule 7 (sections 59F, 77C, 77F and 77H of TMA)
This change replaces references to “the Board” and “the Commissioners for Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs” (“the Commissioners”) in the source legislation with references to “an officer of Revenue and Customs”.
References in the source legislation to the “Board” are treated by section 50(1) of CRCA as references to the Commissioners for HMRC. The rest of this note accordingly refers to the Commissioners rather than to the Board.
The provisions affected by this change authorise or require things to be done by or in relation to an officer of Revenue and Customs rather than by or in relation to the Commissioners. This reflects the way in which HMRC is organised and operates in practice. Section 13 of CRCA allows nearly all functions conferred on the Commissioners to be exercised by any officer. All of the functions affected by this change, which are in the main concerned with administrative processes, are in fact exercised by officers of the Commissioners, and the Commissioners themselves are not personally involved in their exercise.
Section 788(6) of ICTA requires a claim for relief under section 788(3)(a) of that Act to be made to the Commissioners if the claim is not for an allowance by way of credit in accordance with Chapter 2 of Part 18 of that Act. Section 6(6), which is based on section 788(6), does not expressly state to whom the claim should be made. Where a notice to deliver a tax return has been issued, section 42(2) of TMA or paragraphs 57 and 58 of Schedule 18 to FA 1998 require the claim to be made in the return or by amendment of the return if possible. A return must be made to the officer who issued it. A notice amending a return must be made to an officer. Similarly, where the claim is made outside a return or amendment, paragraph 2(1) of Schedule 1A to TMA requires the claim to be made to an officer.
This change has no implications for the amount of tax due, who pays it or when. It affects (in principle and in practice) only administrative matters.