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If you think about accounting firms, you will probably imagine a company that deals with standard advice regarding tax and compliance, helping their clients with elements such as managing their tax returns. Most of these firms lack the time and resources to handle HMRC tax investigations and are therefore a poor choice if you need expert help to deal with one.
Seeking Expert Help With Tax Investigations
It is crucial to seek expert and specialized assistance from qualified accountants with the appropriate knowledge and experience if you have received notice that HMRC will be looking into your tax affairs or if you are worried that you might be the subject of an HMRC investigation in the near future. It can be all too easy to make a mistake when dealing with tax investigations, and the consequences can be significantly detrimental, even if there is, in fact, nothing wrong with their tax affairs.
HMRC will often make requests for large volumes of tax information when carrying out an investigation. In the case of company directors, for example, HMRC may request personal financial details that they may not have the legal power to request. Without the right expert advice, many people believe that they are obliged to hand over this information to HMRC and this can result in unnecessary complications and problems. If you supply unlimited information to HMRC, it is very likely that they will find some questions to raise about what you have provided. This can result in unexpected financial penalties as well as a lot of time-consuming stress that would be best avoided.
Before you supply any documents or information to HMRC, you should always take the time to consult with tax investigation experts to determine precisely which information HMRC has a legal entitlement to receive. Specialists will then be able to help you with its presentation in the most appropriate way to bring the investigation into your tax affairs to an end instead of opening up further potential lines of enquiry that HMRC may wish to explore.
A lot of tax investigations, especially those that are more serious and in which HMRC suspects that tax evasion or tax fraud have been committed, are particularly time-consuming. It is fair to say that most accountancy firms simply have limited resources and time to handle such matters without having an adverse impact on the remainder of their clients. Therefore, seeking out a company of tax investigation specialists who focus only on handling these types of matters is a far better solution. Not only will you be guaranteed that the company has sufficient time and resources to help you manage your investigation in an organised and efficient way, but you can also enjoy the peace of mind that comes with knowing you are working with a team that has in-depth knowledge and expert understanding of this element of tax law and can put it to good use when managing your tax affairs in relation to any HMRC investigation.
How Can A Team Of Tax Investigation Specialists Help?
One of the top reasons for choosing a team of tax investigation specialists to handle matters like this is that they have the right skills and experience to work with third parties like lawyers, other firms of accountants, and third party intermediaries.
Often, lawyers will be involved with matters that involve HMRC. In some cases, their clients will approach them for assistance and advice because they have no tax adviser to turn to or because the matter in question is beyond their usual tax adviser’s experience and knowledge. A team of tax investigation specialists is able to supply specialist advice to legal advisers in HMRC disputes, ensuring the lawyers can achieve the best possible outcome for their clients.
As specialists in the field tax investigation accountants can also work with other third party advisers who are dealing with HMRC. They can provide advice about specific aspects of an HMRC dispute or even manage an entire tax investigation. The agent and taxpayer can decide how much involvement the specialist tax investigation team has in the matter, depending on their requirements and the circumstances of the investigation in question.
While tax investigation specialists can make HMRC aware of their involvement, in some cases, clients prefer not to disclose their involvement. In such cases, they can instead draft letters that the client’s accountant can then send on to HMRC using their own firm name and letterhead.
For lawyers, accountants, and other professional intermediaries who have clients struggling with tax issues and who require some specialist guidance, advice, and support with the matter, getting in touch with our professional team is a great course of action. We can work closely with you to help you give your client the best possible advice and ensure the best possible outcome for them in the end.