Information requested in Code of Practice 9 enquiries was reasonably required by HMRC and the First-tier Tribunal had no jurisdiction to close the enquiries.
In January 2016, HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) opened an enquiry (under TMA 1970, s 9A) into the first appellant’s tax return for 2013/14. HMRC also wrote to the appellants informing them that HMRC intended enquiring into their tax affairs under Code of Practice 9 (COP9) and pointed out that the appellants had a time-limited opportunity to sign a contractual disclosure facility (CDF).
In April 2016, as there had been no response from the appellants by the end of the 60-day period given to accept or reject the CDF, HMRC wrote to the appellants giving the CDF rejection letter (as is the policy when no response received). At the same time, HMRC issued information notices to each of the appellants (under FA 2008, Sch 36, para 1), requesting information relating to several
