HMRC Enquiries, Compliance Checks & Disclosures

The letter will say what HMRC wants to look at and by when. We read it properly first, check whether the enquiry was opened in time and what it covers, and explain what it means in plain terms. From there we are the point of contact: replies are drafted by us, records are reviewed before anything is sent, and each request is answered in full but no wider than it needs to be. Compliance checks and enquiries end with a written position you understand before you agree to it.

Talk this through on a call

A compliance prompt or nudge letter is not an enquiry. It means HMRC holds data, from a letting agent, a bank, a platform or an overseas tax authority, and wants you to check your return against it. Some letters ask for a signed certificate of tax position; that should not be signed without a review, because the declaration carries consequences. We look at what the data might be, check the returns concerned, and either confirm there is nothing to correct or make the correction through the right route.

Talk this through on a call

An employer compliance review starts with a request for a visit and a list of records: payroll, expenses claims, benefits, contractor invoices and CIS returns. Before the officer arrives we go through the same records ourselves, so you know where the exposures are before the meeting. We attend the visit, deal with questions on employment status, travel and subsistence, and directors' loans, and handle the follow-up correspondence. Where a PAYE and employer compliance review produces a liability, we check the years, interest and penalty position before anything is agreed.

Talk this through on a call

Coming forward before HMRC writes is treated differently from being found, in the penalty range and in the tone of what follows. A voluntary disclosure starts with quantifying what was missed, year by year, and deciding which route fits: the Let Property Campaign for rental income, the Digital Disclosure Service for most other income and gains, or a direct letter where the facts call for it. We register the disclosure, prepare the computation with the interest and penalty position explained, and submit it with the payment offer.

Talk this through on a call

Penalty notices carry a time limit for appeal, and the first job is to protect it. We then look at the ground that fits: reasonable excuse for a late filing or payment, where illness, bereavement or a system failure is documented; a reduction for the quality of disclosure on an inaccuracy penalty; or special circumstances where the facts justify it. The appeal is written with the evidence attached, and if HMRC's decision stands we ask for an independent statutory review and, if needed, notify the tribunal.

Talk this through on a call

HMRC considers instalments where the proposal is realistic, the returns are up to date and the company or individual can show how the payments will be met. We prepare that case: a short cashflow, the affordability figures HMRC's debt management team ask for, and a proposal that is honest about what can be paid each month. We then make the call or the written application and confirm the terms in writing. Time to Pay arrangements are monitored afterwards, because a missed instalment can cancel the agreement.

Talk this through on a call

A P800 or Simple Assessment often follows a job change, a second pension or a benefit in kind that HMRC was told about but did not act on. ESC A19 allows a PAYE underpayment to be given up where HMRC held the information, failed to use it in time and it was reasonable for you to believe your affairs were in order. We reconstruct what HMRC was sent and when, from P45s, P60s, P11Ds and the employer's RTI submissions, and put the request in writing with that evidence.

Talk this through on a call

When correspondence has stalled, alternative dispute resolution puts an HMRC mediator between the two sides and can narrow or settle the issue without a hearing. We prepare the application, set out the facts and the points in dispute, and attend the mediation with you. Where the matter has to go to the First-tier Tribunal, we notify the appeal within the time limit, prepare the grounds, bundle and witness statements, and instruct tax counsel where the point of law justifies it, working alongside your solicitors if they are involved.

Talk this through on a call