The "dark art" of classification (challenging a BTI ruling)

The area of classification is often seen as a dark art and impenetrable to most people. This is of course untrue, but it does require experience and repeated and frequent exposure in order to operate confidently and competently within this discipline. In March 2021, an article reporting on the deliberations of the Irish Tax Appeals Commission regarding a tariff classification dispute between the Irish Revenue Commissioners and a medical technology company appeared in an Irish daily newspaper. As a customs consultant and a former civil servant with a particular interest in tariff classification, my attention was immediately piqued.