Civil Reference No. 7 of 2004
The appellant, Intestate Mining and Minerals (T) Ltd, appealed to the Court of Appeal of Tanzania against a judgment of the Tax Revenue Appeals Tribunal (Tax Appeal No. 6 of 2012), delivered by the Vice Chairman on 1 August 2012. When the appeal came up for hearing, the respondent, the Commissioner General of the Tanzania Revenue Authority (TRA), raised a preliminary point of objection contending that the decree of the Tribunal, which formed part of the record of appeal, had been signed only by the Vice Chairman and not certified and signed by all members of the Tribunal who heard the appeal, as required under rule 21 of the Tax Revenue Appeals Tribunal Rules, Government Notice No. 56 of 20 April 2001.
Whether the decree issued by the Tax Revenue Appeals Tribunal, being signed only by the Vice Chairman and not certified and signed by all members of the Tribunal as required by rule 21 of the Tax Revenue Appeals Tribunal Rules, rendered the decree defective; and, if so, whether such defect rendered the record of appeal, and consequently the appeal itself, incompetent before the Court of Appeal.
For the respondent, Mr. Felix Haule argued that the appeal was bad in law because the Tribunal's decree had not been signed and certified by the members of the Tribunal who heard the appeal, as mandated by rule 21 of the Tax Revenue Appeals Tribunal Rules. He submitted that this defect rendered the decree, and hence the record of appeal, incompetent, and urged the Court to uphold the preliminary objection and strike out the appeal, though he did not press for costs. For the appellant, Mr. James Ndyetabula, holding brief for Mr. Gaudious Ishengoma, readily conceded to the preliminary objection but pleaded that the appellant be spared an order for costs.
The Court of Appeal held that, pursuant to rule 96(2)(d) and (e) of the Court of Appeal Rules, 2009, a judgment and a decree are mandatory documents required to be included in the record of appeal. Since rule 21 of the Tax Revenue Appeals Tribunal Rules requires the decision to be duly signed and certified by the members of the Tribunal who heard the appeal, the failure of the Tribunal members (other than the Vice Chairman) to sign and certify the decree rendered it defective. Relying on its own precedents in Amiport Operations (T) Limited v The Commissioner General for Income Tax (Civil Appeal No. 28 of 2009) and Mbeya Inter Trade Company Limited v The Commissioner General of Tanzania Revenue Authority (Civil Appeal No. 68 'A' of 2010), the Court found that a defective decree cannot sustain a competent record of appeal. Consequently, the Court held that the appeal was incompetent and struck it out, making no order as to costs.
This order reaffirms the strict procedural requirement under rule 21 of the Tax Revenue Appeals Tribunal Rules that decisions of the Tribunal must be signed and certified by all members who heard the matter, not merely by the presiding member. It confirms, consistent with earlier Court of Appeal authority (Amiport Operations and Mbeya Inter Trade Company), that a decree failing to meet this requirement is defective and cannot form part of a competent record of appeal under rule 96(2)(d) and (e) of the Court of Appeal Rules, 2009. The decision underscores that non-compliance with such certification requirements is a jurisdictional defect leading to the striking out of an appeal, regardless of the merits of the underlying dispute.
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