Latest Tax Enquiry and Investigation Service

HMRC have lost a second IR35 case this year, and their second case against the same contractor, putting into doubt their own understanding of the IR35 rules. Ian Wells, director of personal service company Jensal Software Limited provided his services to the Department of Work and Pensions via a recruitment agency during 2012 and 2013.…

  A contractor in the construction industry, Mark Daniels, has won his appeal against HMRC. In MDCM Ltd v Revenue & Customs, HMRC were defending their decision that a contract between Mr Daniels’ personal service company MDMC Ltd and recruitment agency Solutions, which provided his services to Structure Tone Ltd,  should have been caught by…

We have known since 2010 that HMRC has a computer programme, called “Connect”, that is collecting data from a variety of sources about taxpayers, and then using this intelligence to check on correct tax compliance. We have known that these data sources include Banks, Social Media, DVLA, Local Authorities, Foreign Tax Jurisdictions and Land Registry.…

HMRC’s ongoing scrutiny of private residence relief is in the news again, with another case going before the First Tier Tribunal. Mr & Mrs Ritchie were partially successful in their claim for relief on the sale of their home, which cost them less than £200,000 but which they sold to a developer for £2 million.…

Tax Investigation Insurance: Premiums for 2017-18 policy year. Prices unchanged from the previous year:   Limited companies with turnover >£20m                    POA Limited companies with turnover £10m to £20m     £540 Limited companies with turnover < £10m                   £185 Partnerships and LLP’s                                                     £155 Sole traders                                                                         £100 Private clients                                                                       £40 Our tax investigation insurance business is…

Untaxed Interest Letter from HMRC: Are you one of the ‘lucky’ ones? HMRC have recently sent out 10,000 letters to individual taxpayers whose Self Assessment Tax returns indicate that they have been in receipt of untaxed interest in the 2014/15 tax year. The letter invites the taxpayer to reconsider the entries on their return, to…

Tax Investigation Insurance: Premiums for 2016-17 policy year. Premiums wef 1 April 2016: Limited companies with turnover > £10m …… £540 Limited companies with turnover < £10m …… £185 Partnerships and LLP’s ……………………………. £155 Sole traders ……………………………………………. £100 Private clients……………………………………………..£40 Our tax investigation insurance business is administered from our Bury St Edmunds office(Contact: Jill Holt).

Tax Investigations Insurance: £800 million more for HMRC, to close the ‘tax gap’. Among the many announcements affecting HMRC and the way it administers the tax system in future years, Chancellor George Osborne has pledged £800 million of funding for additional work to tackle tax evasion and non-compliance. The aim is to raise an additional…

Tax Dodgers Beware: HMRC makes record payments to informants. Our Fee Protection insurers report that HMRC made payments of £605,000 to informants in the year to March, up 50% on the previous year. Around 100,000 calls were made to HMRC’s confidential telephone hotline over the last year. Finding sufficient supporting information to justify following up…

HMRC “Connect” System: Big brother is watching you ! HMRC is gathering an increasing amount of data from a variety of sources about taxpayers using its “Connect” system. Since 2010 HMRC has collected information from organisations such as the banks, the DVLA, local authorities and foreign tax jurisdictions, and uses it to build up a…