Howell
| Jurisdiction | UK Non-devolved |
| Judgment Date | 24 January 2012 |
| Neutral Citation | [2012] UKFTT 75 (TC) |
| Date | 24 January 2012 |
| Court | First Tier Tribunal (Tax Chamber) |
[2012] UKFTT 75 (TC)
John Walters QC (Tribunal Judge) (Chairman), Gordon Marjoram
There was no appearance by or on behalf of the Appellant
Mrs. L. Storey, Officer, HMRC, for the Respondents
National Insurance contributions - whether contributions were paid in error so that an obligation to refund them arose under regulation 52(4) of the Social Security (Contributions) Regulations 2001 - consideration of the meaning of "error" in regulation 52(9) - appellant had paid contributions 31 days before an announcement of a proposal for a change in the law which, if implemented (as it was), would not have enhanced appellant's entitlement to a basic pension - held that the contributions were not paid in error - Osborne TAX[2010] TC 00650 and Bonner TAX[2009] TC 00190 followed - appeal dismissed
1.This appeal has been categorised as a standard appeal. A letter dated 28 December 2011 was received at the Tribunal Centre from the Appellant, Mrs. Janet Howell, stating that she would not be attending the hearing of the appeal because her husband, Mr. A. Howell, who had proposed to appear on her behalf, had had a heart operation and had been advised not to put himself under any undue stress. The Appellant went on in her letter to make observations which the Tribunal has taken into account - see: below.
2.The Respondents ("HMRC") were represented by an Officer, Mrs. L. Storey, and in the circumstances the Tribunal proceeded with the hearing pursuant to rule 33 of the Tribunal Procedure (First-tier Tribunal) (Tax Chamber) Rules 2009, considering that it was in the interests of justice to do so. The issue before us turned on a point of law. If a question of fact had been decisive, it would have been more likely that we would have adjourned the hearing of the appeal to give the Appellant a further opportunity to attend to give evidence.
3.Besides the Appellant's Notice of Appeal, dated 22 October 2009 and HMRC's Statement of Case submitted on 8 April 2010, we considered the Appellant's letter dated 24 June 2011 in which she stated that she would not be calling any witnesses, Lists of Documents served by both sides, the Appellant's letter dated 28 December 2011 (see: above), two bundles of documents and a bundle of authorities served by Mrs. Storey. Mrs. Storey also handed up a speaking note containing the substance of the oral submissions which she made at the hearing.
4.The appeal was brought against a decision made by HMRC and notified to the Appellant by a Notice dated 19 January 2009 that "[t]he Class 3 Contributions, paid for the periods from 6 April 1996 to 5 April 2002 and 6 April 2004 to 5 April 2005, were not paid in error".
5.The Class 3 Contributions in issue were voluntary contributions paid by the Appellant for the years 1996/1997, 1997/1998, 1998/1999, 1999/2000, 2000/2001 and 2001/2002 (6 years) and 2003/2004 and 2004/2005 (2 years). These years are hereinafter referred to as "the Relevant Years"). The Appellant paid these contributions, amounting to £2,446.10 in total, on 24 April 2006.
6.She had obtained a State Pension forecast from...
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