HMRC self-assessment compliance check letter

[ladymuck]

Oh look insurance was mentioned in post #2...

[TheCyclingProgrammer]

It's likely to be:

a) A random compliance check, nothing to worry about if your tax returns have been accurate or,
b) A pre-cursor to an IR35 investigation.

Either way, as others have said if you have any kind of tax compliance policy you should notify them immediately as well as your accountant and let them deal with it for you.

[Lance]

I think this is bad advice, if you respond directly it might invalidate your cover from QDOS/IPSE - let them deal with it

"claims conditions" from QDOS policy wording:
Provided that Qdos has managed the dispute from inception

it's not a dispute yet. It's a compliance check.

Using your insurance is better idea. But doesn't make my suggestion a bad idea.

[DZ2]

It's likely to be:

a) A random compliance check, nothing to worry about if your tax returns have been accurate or,
b) A pre-cursor to an IR35 investigation.

Either way, as others have said if you have any kind of tax compliance policy you should notify them immediately as well as your accountant and let them deal with it for you.

Oh no don't even mention option b!
Accountant thinks it's the case of random check and nothing to worry about.

I've e-mailed copy of the letter to QDOS, will see what they say.

[sludgesurfer]

Oh no don't even mention option b!
Accountant thinks it's the case of random check and nothing to worry about.

I've e-mailed copy of the letter to QDOS, will see what they say.

I've had 4 of these from memory. 2 a while ago when I was a permie due to the high level of of foreign tax I was reclaiming. 2 more recently as LTD.

The first LTD one was due to me screwing up my VAT return when (based on incorrect advice from my accountant) I didn't include the sales amount for 'out of scope' VAT sales.
The second LTD one was due to me having 2 savings accounts with very similar names and only declaring one resulting in me under-declaring £400 of interest. This one made me realise that HMRC know everything.

The permie ones were the most onerous, requiring several requests for additional time as Deloitte chased down the Equatorial Guinean tax authorities for evidence of tax paid. Surprisingly not the most efficient of departments.

I didn't use insurance for either of the LTD ones although I did speak to the HMRC advisor dealing with the case directly. That, plus the compliance letter made it pretty obvious what thread they were pulling at, although I appreciate with hindsight, I may have been lucky/foolish.

One thing, once complete, ensure you get a closure notice. I had to chase this for the VAT one. If you handle this yourself, the compliance check should be declared to Qdos and they also asked for copies of the closure letter. After doing so, I received an e-mail back from Qdos confirming continued cover but not for anything related to these compliance checks.

[DZ2]

Spoke to QDOS and they will be dealing with this on my behalf. They also think it's just a routine random check from HMRC.

All in all I'm sold on keeping QDOS insurance running for few more years even though I'm not contracting any longer. They've been very helpful in past and now again