Latest News
Updates from the Clayton & Brewill team.
Tax investigations – ensure you’re protected
With HMRC targeted to increase revenue from tax compliance, tax investigations are on the increase. Nottingham chartered accountants, Clayton & Brewill explains more about tax investigations and provides some useful tips on how you can ensure you’re protected should you be subject to an investigation.
Tax investigations and queries initiated by HMRC don’t only take their toll financially, they are also time-consuming and stressful. HMRC is spending more money than ever on tax investigations making it vital that you are protected, should you or your business be selected for investigation.
Year on year HMRC is targeted to increase revenue from tax compliance and is investing an extra £800m on compliance activity, with £300m specifically set aside to target SMEs and high net worth individuals. They are aiming to collect an additional £27 billion in revenue for the Treasury over the next 12 months.
The average HMRC enquiry lasts 19 months with the costs regularly exceeding several thousands of pounds.
Be prepared and protected
Although unfortunately, nothing can be done to stop you from being selected for an enquiry, you can ensure you are prepared and protected from the associated fees.
To reduce your risk of being investigated it’s important to:
- Submit your tax return or company accounts on time, ensuring all income is declared
- Use a trusted accountant to ensure your documentation is accurate and submitted correctly
- Be wary of any tax avoidance schemes – if it sounds too good to be true, it usually is
- Be careful about what information you share in the public domain e.g. sharing transactional information on social media or in the press
Tax investigations are stressful and costly. Defending your case can cost thousands of pounds in professional fees. However, you can protect against these costs by taking out tax investigation protection. In the event of an investigation, this will ensure that the professional costs of your defence are covered and that an expert adviser will handle all meetings and negotiations on your behalf.