The government is considering introducing fees for taxpayers who take cases to the First Tier Tribunal (FTT) or Upper Tribunal (UT) in an attempt to recoup some of the annual £1bn running costs faced by the courts and tribunal service (HMCTS)

The Ministry of Justice (MOJ) has already consulted on proposals to either increase or introduce fees for those using the courts and tribunals, and is now looking at proposals which would extend these to cover tax cases at FTT and UT for the first time. It estimates the full cost of both tribunals was £8.7m in 2013–14, none which is currently recovered.

Under the proposals, there would be two different issue fees in the FTT, depending on the case category. For paper and basic cases this would be £50, while for standard and complex cases the fee would be £200. The MOJ says it is also proposing to introduce a tiered fee structure where cases go to a full hearing based upon the complexity and length of the case, starting at £200 for basic, £500 for standard and £1000 for complex cases.

There would also be UT fees for onward appeals from the FTT, with the MOJ proposing to introduce three fee points: a fee of £100 to seek permission to appeal; £200 for a permission hearing (where permission has been refused on the papers); and £2,000 for a substantive appeal hearing.

The MOJ estimates that these proposals would generate a cost recovery percentage of around 26% after remissions across the FTT and UT combined, in line with its stated aim of recovering about 25% of all tribunal and court costs.

In the consultation document, the MOJ says the standard HMCTS fee remission scheme will apply, in order to protect access to the tribunals for those who are unable to afford to pay. Tribunal will also have the power to order that fees should be reimbursed.

The MOJ states: ‘An additional aim of the government in introducing and revising fee structures in these tribunals is to keep the fee charging structures as simple as possible to assist both tribunal users and HMCTS staff in understanding the new fees.’

The proposals form part of a wider consultation on plans to introduce or increase fees for those using the courts and tribunals which runs until 15 September 2015. The MOJ estimates the fees will produce a predicted income of £2.1m from FTT cases and £200,000 from UT cases.

Details of the consultation are here

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