This case was referred to us from another accounting firm in London. The client had been under enquiry for almost 3 years before his accountants contacted us for assistance. The client was under significant stress as this tax enquiry was affecting his personal and work life. During the previous few years the relationship with HMRC had been damaged and consequently HMRC had raised large assessments. The case involved rental business and large sums of cash the client had which were treated by HMRC as undeclared income. Our tax investigation specialists considered the case in depth and how the rental income had been recorded and declared including the cash deposits. After long discussions and detailed analysis we were able to see a logical explanation to the cash deposits in our client???s account. We explained our client???s position to HMRC and also challenged on some of the assumptions that had been made with supporting evidence and relevant case law. A meeting was arranged with HMRC officers who accepted majority of our points and explanations and we settled on a tax liability less than 10% the original assessments. This was a great news for the client and their accountant that referred the case to our firm. We are grateful to the HMRC officers involved for their cooperation and their understanding our client???s situation and personal circumstances before reducing their assessments.
Our analysis: This case came to us after it had been ongoing for almost 3 years and there was still a large (turned bitter) communication gap between HMRC, the accountant and the client. Due to our expertise in tax investigations we were able to reduce the gap and provide information to HMRC in a constructive way that allowed us to close the investigation shortly after it came to us. The case highlights importance of using a firm that is experienced and knowledgeable with tax investigations to avoid paying more tax than needed and more importantly the psychological stress that comes with the tax investigations.
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