§ Mr. Trotterasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) whether it is now the intention of Her Majesty's Customs and Excise to seek their costs before value added tax tribunals when the appellant was unsuccessful but brought the case from entirely proper motives on a point not previously considered by a tribunal;
(2) whether he will make a statement following the remark of counsel for Her Majesty's Customs and Excise in the case of Rawlins, Davy and Wells, that the Commission might in future refrain from asking for costs only in cases such as where an appellant appears in person and is of very small means, and in the light of the observation of the tribunal chairman that as it had been the practice of the Commission only to ask for costs when the appeal was frivolous or there had been misconduct, it might be appropriate for the Commission to defer asking for costs until the change of policy had been publicly announced.
§ Mr. Robert SheldonI have nothing to add to the reply that I gave to the hon. and learned Member for Dover and Deal (Mr. Rees) on 21st July—[Vol. 954, c. 426.]