Tax investigation
Discussion
I am in the middle of a tax investigation.
The guys at the tax office are relentlessly asking for more and more stuff going back further and further.
Does any one have any experience of this ? Will they carry on until they can get some cash out of you ? If they find something are they more or less likely to prosecute these days ?
Any help welcome.
Thanks
Ex77
The guys at the tax office are relentlessly asking for more and more stuff going back further and further.
Does any one have any experience of this ? Will they carry on until they can get some cash out of you ? If they find something are they more or less likely to prosecute these days ?
Any help welcome.
Thanks
Ex77
Which taxes are they looking at? VAT? Payroll? Corporation? Your personal tax affairs? If you haven't already engaged an accountant to help you with this then do it as soon as possible. I work for an accountancy firm and we handle these investigations. We usually find that it goes wrong where the firm/individual under investigation decides that paying an accountant for professional advice isn't worth it and try to handle it themselves.
Feel free to PM me - happy to have a chat about what they are asking and where they might be going with their investigation. A colleague of mine actually used to handle this from HMRC's side so he has an insite into their methods.
Feel free to PM me - happy to have a chat about what they are asking and where they might be going with their investigation. A colleague of mine actually used to handle this from HMRC's side so he has an insite into their methods.
One of the downsides (if you can call it that) of the Self Assessment system is that tax enquiries and tax investigations are now a lot rare than they were compared to the pre-self assessment era (before 1996). As a result, many practicioners who began their practices after that period have very little experience in dealing directly with HMRC - especially when it comes to fending of queries.
Has the Revenue suggested having a meeting with them yet?
Has the Revenue suggested having a meeting with them yet?
Exige77 said:
No meeting just endless demands for bank statements, credit card statements. detailed list of all assets which is never detailed enough, when we bought cars, how much they were, how did we pay for them etc etc.
Real police state stuff with no end in sight.
Ex77
It sounds like a suggestion for a meeting should come up soon. Be very careful how you approach such a meeting and, if one is suggested, make sure you meet at the tax office (not your business premises or home) and make sure you are represented by your accountant.Real police state stuff with no end in sight.
Ex77
Are you sole trader?
A partnership?
A limited company?
Has HMRC indicated what prompted the investigation?
Is the investigation and enquiry into a specific Self Assessment tax return for a specific year?
At the beginning of the investigation HMRC would have sent you a formal letter informing you that they were going to enquire into a certain tax return/set of accounts etc.
What did that letter specifically say and when was it sent to you?
Edited by Eric Mc on Friday 8th January 10:19
ringram said:
Probably a bit over the top on the phone tap. But its possible.
Burn everything
Phone tapping would be reserved for suspected cases of serious fraud or if national security was involved. It's not allowed for routine enquiries into tax returns.Burn everything
I was involved in a tax investigation where tbhe client had an "unfortunate" fire which almost (but didn't quite) destroy some basic records. It didn't stop the investigation and just made it more problematic for teh taxpayer.
Edited by Eric Mc on Friday 8th January 13:44
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