While the Tribunal is justified in raising issues regarding statutory timelines suo moto, it must still provide the parties an opportunity to be heard on the matter.

“In the present circumstances, however, I do agree with the Appellant’s position. The Tribunal, upon identifying that the assessment was time barred, ought to have invited the parties to be heard in view of the provisions of Section 31(4)(b)(i) of the Tax Procedures Act. The court finds that while the issue was a question of law, it required an assessment of evidence to determine the date that the self-assessment return by the taxpayer was submitted before concluding that it was time barred. Therefore, while the Tribunal was justified in raising the statutory timeline issue suo moto, the error arose when it proceeded to make a determination without granting the parties an opportunity to be heard as there was no sufficient material on record to conclusively determine the issue.”