If you disagree with a decision made by the Tax Administration it’s possible to claim for adjustment or to appeal against the decision. Appeal takes place in a three-step process. The first step is to claim for adjustment to the Adjustment Board. If you disagree with the Adjustment Board’s decision, it’s possible to file an appeal to the Administrative Court. It’s possible to further appeal to the Supreme Administrative Court, if it gives a permission to do so. To ensure correct result already the claim for adjustment needs to be drafted carefully and the central regulations and cases need to be understood.
The main rule is that an adjustment needs to be claimed within three years
Claim for adjustment needs to be made within three years from the beginning of the calendar year following the tax year. When it comes to self-assessed taxes the time limit is counted from beginning of the following calendar year or year when accounting period ended. Concerning tax year 2016 and prior years, time for appeal is in certain situations longer – e.g. in income taxation time for appeal is five years.
Claim for adjustment is addressed to the Adjustment Board. However, the Tax Administration may decide on the claim for adjustment for the part the claim is accepted.
Appeal to the Administrative Court as the second step
Concerning tax year 2017 and subsequent tax years an appeal to the Administrative Court needs to be done within 60 days from the date when receiving notice of the Adjustment Board’s decision. For prior years, time for appeal is e.g. in income taxation five years from the beginning of the calendar year following the tax year in question. However, if the appeal time had already ended or was soon to end, the time for appeal is always at least 60 days from the date when receiving notice of a decision.
Appeal to the Supreme Administrative Court is subject to the requirement of a leave to appeal
When appealing to the Supreme Administrative Court the time for appeal is the same as when appealing to the Administrative Court. The Supreme Administrative Court decides according to the regulated prerequisites in which situations the leave to appeal is granted i.e. the case goes before the Supreme Administrative Court. According to the legislation leave to appeal is granted if the case is generally of special importance, there’s an obvious error or because of another important reason. If none of the mentioned prerequisites is fulfilled, it’s challenging to get a leave to appeal e.g. if the case concerns evaluating evidence in a specific situation.
Exceptional regulations concerning advance rulings and appeals for a precedent
When it comes to advance rulings the appeal process is different. Appeals against advance rulings given by the Tax Administration are filed directly to the Administrative Court. An appeal to the Administrative Court and to the Supreme Administrative Court needs to be done within 30 days from the date when receiving notice of the advance ruling or the decision of the Administrative Court. Appeals against decisions given by the Central Tax Board are filed directly to the Supreme Administrative Court. The case goes before the Supreme Administrative Court i.e. it’s not subject to the requirement of a leave to appeal.
In addition, in specific situations it’s possible to appeal against a decision of the Adjustment Board directly to the Supreme Administrative Court. This is the case when appealing for a precedent. This procedure is possible only if the Supreme Administrative Court grants a leave to appeal because the case is generally of special importance.
Fiscales helps you to draft a claim of adjustment and a tax appeal
Our experts help our clients to draft claims of adjustments and tax appeals concerning all tax questions. According to our experience it’s advisable to invest in the appeal process as early as possible to ensure the correct final result and to end the process at an early stage. It’s important that the claims and the circumstances on which the claims are based are effectively directed and reflect the applicable regulations and case law. Here, the experience of our experts is of great value.
