A tax enquiry can be a worrying time for our clients. There are two main types of tax enquiry that we often encounter:
- Enquiry into a single taxpayer
- A PAYE company expatriate audit
We have decades of experience in project managing both types. We ensure that UK tax inspectors are not excessive with their penalties nor too aggressive in their investigations.
Individual tax enquiries
A recent client story. A tax inspector sent a taxpayer a long list of questions and planned to remove most of her tax relief claims. This would have cost £10,000 or more in tax. We successfully defended her case with legal argument and by delivering full data to the inspector (but no more than was necessary).
Our objective is provide a pack which supports a taxpayer’s tax returns, but without drifting into unrelated areas. Tax inspectors can request too much data, which is not always acceptable or relevant. We have the skills to negotiate here and reduce your exposure.
PAYE expatriate company audit
A UK tax inspector will announce that he will visit your business for one day’s auditing. The company receives a list of information to be reviewed on that day. We have plenty of experience of dealing with such a visit. Frequently, companies are “clean” on most issues and simply need to demonstrate this.
If there are weaknesses in PAYE expat processes, it is better to declare these, and present them in the best light. For example, “this particular error was for one year only”. Far better to negotiate following a voluntary disclosure, than to be found out and penalised for non-reporting.
Before an audit, we work with you to find possible weak links in your systems and correct them in good time. Pay the tax but minimise any penalties.