A sharp rise in the number of cases put before the two HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) tax tribunals may be a result of applicants pushing appeals through before the tribunals merge, a leading tax lawyer has said.

Applications to the VAT and Duties Tribunal and the Special Commissioners Tribunal jumped 37% in 2007, while cases heard by the tribunals rose 12%, according to research released by City firm Reynolds Porter Chamberlain last week. In all, 4,300 applications were made to the tribunals in 2007, with 791 cases heard.

Malcolm Gammie QC, member of the Law Society tax law committee and barrister at 1 Essex Court Chambers, said: ‘People are probably getting appeals in before the reforms come into play.’

Mark Whitehouse, tax litigation partner at RPC, said the HMRC’s recent announcement that it would take a tougher line on its litigation and settlement strategy is also fuelling the hike in applications.

Whitehouse said: ‘Until recently, HMRC avoided the costs of litigation by negotiating a ­settlement with the taxpayer. It’s no secret that HMRC is under-resourced. While HMRC pursues potentially lucrative cases, other cases are falling to the bottom of the pile, leaving taxpayers ­wondering when their case will be dealt with.’

He added that taxpayers could be attempting to take advantage of the tougher stance by lodging applications in the hope that HMRC will be overwhelmed and drop the cases.

In 2006, 3,146 applications were made with 708 cases heard, compared with 3,008 applications and 613 cases heard in 2005.