James Cordiner, Tax Investigations Manager at Markel Tax, suggests 10 ways accountancy practices can deal with HMRC enquiries on behalf of their clients.
Her Majesty's Revenue & Customs (HMRC) enquiries – which can be carried out on businesses and individuals – can be very stressful, time-consuming and costly for clients. It’s therefore vitally important that a professional accountant offers valuable guidance throughout the whole process to ensure clients achieve the best possible outcome with HMRC.
- Always check the validity of the enquiry notice issued by HMRC and challenge this where appropriate.
- Review the schedule of information and documents requested line by line to ensure the requests made are reasonable and relevant to the period under review.
- Consider having an early conversation with the Compliance Officer with a view to identifying the key areas of concern and the rationale behind the requests made. Keep HMRC informed at all stages, as a bit of rapport does no harm.
- Be confident in challenging HMRC on any areas as you see fit and don’t be shy in asking questions.
- Have a direct conversation with your client at the outset of the enquiry to ensure there are no issues to be disclosed.
- Request an extension from the Compliance Officer where necessary in advance of formal action being taken.
- Encourage co-operation with the enquiry process but remember there is no obligation to meet with HMRC so always consider what is in the client’s best interests.
- Consider all avenues to resolve any disputes that arise such as Alternative Dispute Resolution, Independent Review and as a last resort Tribunal.
- If errors have arisen, carefully review the behaviour that led to those errors to ensure that HMRC’s conclusions on penalties are fair and reasonable.
- Double check all settlement calculations issued by HMRC to ensure these are correct.
If you have any queries on the above or need any assistance in this area, please contact:
Markel Tax's Tax Investigations Team
