Regardless of how careful you are, HMRC can randomly select you for a tax enquiry or you may be targeted as part of their attack on a particular trade or business. Either way you’ll be responsible for proving your innocence or agreeing their demands, and even if you’re innocent your defence will be expensive in time and money.
On opening the brown envelope that tells you you’re under enquiry
- your first reaction will be anger - why me, why don’t they go after the real crooks?
- the second will be stress – what if, despite all the care I’ve taken they find something wrong, how much is this going to cost me, how much time am I going to waste?
You will need help. Our clients know that we look after them and HMRC know that too – after all we did their job at one time. We have a very successful record in concluding enquiries without any amendments to our clients’ Returns or extra tax to pay.
We were more than happy when HMRC described our enquiry response as “refreshing” – roughly translated as “you obviously know what you’re doing and I’m not wasting my time here”. And it was fine by us in another enquiry when they said “there is an overall credibility to your client’s tax affairs which justifies adopting a “benefit of the doubt” approach” - case closed!
Our clients do not have their time wasted – we handle it all, no matter how long it takes. And it can take a long time depending on the approach HMRC decide to take.
And the cost to our clients? Just a modest annual subscription to our Tax Investigation Service.
The Tax Investigation Service also reimburses fees for disputes with HMRC – PAYE, VAT, IR35 and Business Record Checks.
If you are not yet a client and are under enquiry we can still help you – it’s never too late to call the experts!