The First-tier Tribunal did not have power to review HMRC’s refusal to accept late elections for fixed protection for pensions lifetime allowance purposes.

The deadline for submitting to HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) a notice electing for ‘Fixed Protection 2012’ from the pensions lifetime allowance charge (FA 2011, Sch 18, para 14) was 6 April 2012, although HMRC had discretion to accept a notice served after that date. The appellants submitted their notices after the deadline of 5 April 2012 and HMRC refused to accept them. The appellants appealed. 

The First-tier Tribunal (FTT) dismissed their appeal ([2020] UKFTT 68 (TC)). The appellants appealed to the Upper Tribunal (UT). At issue was the extent to which a tribunal had the power to interfere (or should, in this case, interfere) with HMRC’s refusal to accept those notices. The matters for the UT included whether the FTT was wrong to conclude that HMRC had not fettered