HISTORY
nigel gibbon & co was founded by Nigel Gibbon on 1st February 1999 and has been helping clients in difficulties with what was, at the time, HMC&E and is now HMRC ever since. Prior to that Nigel qualified as a solicitor in 1984 and spent 3 years defending thieves, murderers and rapists before joining the Solicitor's Office of HMC&E in London, conducting VAT appeals for HMC&E from 1988 onwards. In 1990 he set up the VAT and Duties appeals division in HMC&E's new Manchester office, which he ran until 1996 when he joined a national top-10 law firm as head of indirect tax. But the work was transactional rather than dispute based and the lure of VAT litigation proved too much. So, in 1999, nigel gibbon & co was born and the firm continues to flourish 23 years later.
SERVICES
nigel gibbon & co offers a unique service in a niche area of the law. We specialise in the representation of businesses in disputes with HMRC both in the statutory review process within HMRC and in appeals to the Tax Chamber of the independent First-tier Tribunal (which we call “the Tax Tribunal”).
We concentrate on giving advice and assistance to VAT or Customs/Excise consultants, accountants, solicitors and other fellow professionals whose clients are in dispute with HMRC in relation to VAT or Customs/Excise issues but we occasionally accept instructions direct from businesses.
We provide a level of service tailored to the individual case. This might mean, at one end of the scale, providing advocacy services for a specific Appeal hearing, leaving our partner practitioner to “run” the case generally. At the other end of the scale, we might be asked to take over a case lock, stock and barrel – including all contact with the client.
Most decisions of HM Revenue & Customs concerning VAT, Customs Duty or Excise Duties can be appealed initially by way of a departmental statutory review and thereafter to the Tax Tribunal; for instance :
- assessments for under-declared VAT;
- claims for repayments of overpaid VAT;
- the VAT liability of supplies (ie. standard rated, zero rated or exempt);
- penalties for inaccuracies in VAT returns or surcharges for late returns;
- tariff classification of imported products;
- import valuation;
- customs duty reliefs and preferences
- liability to excise duties (eg. tobacco duty or duty on alcohol).