International Brands Ltd v Revenue and Customs (EXCISE DRAWBACK : Excise drawback)

EXCISE DUTY � Jurisdiction of Tribunal � Cancellation of alternative evidence agreements by HMRC � Whether a �decision� has been made as to entitlement to Excise Duty drawback � No � Whether a �condition� imposed pursuant to Regulation 7(2) Excise Goods (Drawback) Regulations 1995 � No � Appeal struck out

Will Hays, counsel, instructed by the General Counsel and Solicitor to HM Revenue and Customs, for the Respondents

This is the application of HM Revenue and Customs (�HMRC�) to determine, as a preliminary issue, whether the Tribunal has jurisdiction to hear the appeal of International Brands Limited (the �Company�). It concerns the evidence required for a claim for Excise Duty drawback, in particular the use of �alternative evidence agreements�. These are documents, which reflect an agreement between a taxpayer and HMRC, in relation to specific brands of goods under which a claim for drawback can be made in the absence of a duty payment document.

The Company was advised by HMRC�s Drawback Central Assurance Team (�DCAT�) in a letter, dated 12 March 2014, that its use of alternative evidence agreements between 1 October 2012 and 31 October 2013 would be considered to ascertain whether any of the agreements were dormant and should be withdrawn.

On 26 March 2014 DCAT wrote to the Company explaining that the review had found that of the 42 alternative evidence agreements the Company had in place only 18 had been used during the review period. The letter continued (with emphasis as stated in the letter):