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Where Taxpayers and Advisers Meet

HMRC Investigations Handbook 2016/17

mark
Posts:29
Joined:Wed Aug 06, 2008 1:41 pm
HMRC Investigations Handbook 2016/17

Postby mark » Sat Feb 11, 2017 11:55 am

Book of the Month of Taxbookshop is HMRC Investigations Handbook 2016/17 (https://www.taxbookshop.com/hmrc-invest ... 16-17.html).

There is a feeling among some professional advisers that HMRC is increasingly seeking to impose penalties for deliberate tax return errors, when the errors were only careless at worst.

Has anyone had a similar experience in a tax return enquiry recently?

Mark McLaughlin

wamstax
Posts:2019
Joined:Wed Aug 06, 2008 3:39 pm
Location:Operate Nationally but based in Aberdeen
Contact:

Re: HMRC Investigations Handbook 2016/17

Postby wamstax » Sun Mar 05, 2017 12:08 am

The difficulty for HMRC officers nowadays is that they have to "prove" carelessness and/or deliberate conduct to enable them to start seeking a penalty. They therefore have the difficult exercise of looking at the nature of the errors and then relating these to what they consider are either careless or deliberate. Of course if the error is only careless then they enter into the next problem area of deciding how careless penalties should be suspended. If the conduct is deliberate then of course it gets them out of the risk of having to consider and getting the suspension criteria and answer wrong.

But looking at your initial question - yes I have seen arguments from HMR officers where they seem to want to have the most sinister conduct imputed to any error and have difficulty sometimes in seeing the simple "careless" conduct that inevitably we would class our clients conduct as if we cannot see the "reasonable care " let out etc.

Of course the crux of the matter is that it for he who asserts to prove so it should always be remembered that everything HMRC officers at is not gospel and Tribunals may well take a more realistic view. Of course before that professionals should get a second opinion (to ensure that they are not seeing only the good side) - either from someone who is experienced in the subject or by means of a "Review" by an Independent Officer of HMRC (who can sometimes get the right answer if matters have become entrenched for example.

Always happy to have discussions with accountants who are having a problem to either give a second opinion; advise regarding making submissions for Internal Reviews and/or provide resource to take to FTT if HMRC are overstepping the mark.
regards and hope this helps
http://www.wamstaxltd.com
Operates Nationally with competitive costs
and email and phone contact (mob 07751720507) can be obtained from websites


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