§ Mr. Neil Hamiltonasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many appeals were heard by the Special Commissioners under section 31 of the Taxes Management Act 1970 in the financial years 1981–82 and 1982–83; and how many of such appeals were withdrawn before proceeding to a hearing.
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§ Mr. MooreThe numbers of cases of all kinds heard by the Special Commissioners in the two years were as follows:
1981–82 1982–83 a. Matters of Substance *216 †344 b. Delays, excluding Northern Ireland 232 271 c. Delays, Northern Ireland 7,534 5,988 Totals 7,982 6,603 * 838 appeals † 819 appeals Information is not available showing S.31 appeals separately or the number of appeals withdrawn.
There are no general commissioners in Northern Ireland and "delay" cases can only be listed for hearing by the special commissioners. Elsewhere the cases listed for "delay" hearing by the special commissioners are limited to those where the taxpayer has specially elected. Of the appeals listed for "delay" hearing in London and on circuits (other than Northern Ireland) 5,419 were cancelled without a hearing in 1981–82 and 4,902 in 1982–83.