Who needs to know this?
We handle all types of HMRC enquiries. We are engaged directly by taxpayers or work with their professional adviser, usually their accountant, to achieve the right outcome.
For accountants and other tax advisers, we seek to supplement the services you offer your clients and as a firm we only offer specialist tax services, we would therefore never threaten your existing client relationship.
We encourage informal telephone discussions and will offer our initial view on a no-obligation and confidential basis.
If you do engage us on a more complex matter, we can provide the strategic advice, and you can provide knowledge of your client and their tax affairs and, if desired, your team members who can work with us on the assignment.
Why is it important?
It is easy to maintain an exchange of correspondence with HMRC but settling a tax enquiry at a suitable time and for the right result is a skill that comes from experience gained over time, handling many enquiries and investigations day in and day out and managing them through to completion.
When handling a tax enquiry, we will:
- Check that the enquiry is valid;
- Check that all the information requested by HMRC relates to the entity under enquiry and that the information is reasonably required to check the tax position;
- Propose an alternative way to satisfy HMRC if the specific information HMRC have requested is not available;
- Ensure that the calculation of any additional tax due includes any claims, reliefs, and allowances available to the taxpayer;
- Consider the behaviour of the taxpayer and align all communications to that behaviour throughout the enquiry correspondence. This can result in HMRC being “out of time” to collect the tax for some years and it makes it much easier to agree the lowest penalty possible on conclusion of the enquiry; and
- Manage any HMRC delay and prompt action from HMRC.
Please contact Sarah Scala, Associate Partner, and Head of Tax Dispute Resolution for a no obligation and confidential discussion about a HMRC enquiry.
