Taxes Management Act 1970 section 5

General and Special Commissioners

Section 5 formerly established the two tiers of tax appeal commissioners — General Commissioners and Special Commissioners — but has been repealed following the transfer of their functions to the unified tax tribunal system.

• Section 5 originally provided for General Commissioners and Special Commissioners to hear and determine tax appeals and related matters.
• General Commissioners were local, lay appointees who dealt with more straightforward tax disputes, while Special Commissioners were legally qualified and handled more complex cases.
• The section was repealed by the Transfer of Tribunal Functions and Revenue and Customs Appeals Order 2009 (SI 2009/56), which transferred the commissioners' jurisdiction to the First-tier Tribunal and Upper Tribunal.
• Any references to General or Special Commissioners in older legislation or case law should now be read as references to the appropriate tier of the unified tribunal system.

---