Are you protected? If not, act now

Further to our recent podcast with Kevin Igoe, the managing director of PFP and chairman of the UK Tax Investigation conference, we discussed the importance of all RBP clients being subscribed to the RBP Tax Investigation Service (TIS).

An investigation opened by HMRC is not just triggered through wrongdoing. Some known reasons for an investigation are:

• Substantial variants between different tax returns
• Individuals with offshore bank accounts
• Income received from property
• Omissions and mistakes
• Late filed tax returns, or late tax payments
• You are in an HMRC target area
• Spot checks at random

During the pandemic, HMRC had adopted a go-slow approach on their investigations. However, reports have confirmed that a more aggressive approach is now being taken to achieve a target they have been set by the Chancellor of the Exchequer.

HMRC opened 102,000 new investigations in the first quarter of 2021; a 36% increase from the previous quarter. It is anticipated that this trend will increase again this year as many of their employees are now working from home, and with the use of their new sophisticated HMRC Connect system, it has enabled their team to restart probes into businesses’ and individuals’ tax affairs remotely. Therefore, RBP are aiming to ensure that all of our clients are protected.

RBP’s TIS, that is exclusive to our clients, is designed to protect you from incurring any additional accountancy charges, should an HMRC tax investigation arise.

It is important for me to highlight to you that, although some may believe that they are covered under a current insurance policy for tax investigations, this would not cover the fees that RBP would need to charge in order to liaise with an insurance company or provide information to HMRC.

RBP believe it is important for all of our clients to subscribe to this service. If you wish to do this, please email me and I shall confirm the cost to you, then enrol you on our policy that will also provide you with a free client legal helpline, available to you 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, provided by Irwin Mitchell, a UK law firm.

To listen to our full podcast that provides you with everything you need to know about HMRC Tax Investigations, please click here.

If you would like to subscribe, please contact Emma Pottinger at emma@rbp.co.uk.