Mediating tax disputes: all in a day’s work?

Four years ago the prospect of resolving a tax dispute (where traditional negotiation was not working) by using some form of dispute resolution process other than resorting to the courts was a theoretical concept. It had only just been put forward as a proposal in an internal HMRC review (in 2009) of tax disputes reporting on how to improve dispute resolution.

Four years later following two successful pilot studies – one for small and medium-sized businesses and individuals; the other for large and complex cases – and successful outcomes in over 100 cases the use of alternative dispute resolution (ADR) techniques (including formal...