No To Retro Tax – Campaign Against Section 58 Finance Act 2008

[BrilloPad]

So given that they think our lawful tax planning was actually illegal, there may be a lot of "useful" information that they would hold back...

+1.

But if you don't ask you don't get.

[DonkeyRhubarb]

You can certainly get copies of all correspondence they sent you. I've done this and I know of others who have too.

In one case it saved a guy £20k because it turned out they hadn't opened an enquiry for one of his CNs.

[DonkeyRhubarb]

Anyone live in Harlow?

and have Robert Halfon as their MP?

If so, please can you email "info AT notoretrotax.org.uk" or PM me.

Thanks
DR

[swede]

No enquiry opened.

HMRC have made errors in the way they have opened enquiries. If this has happened to you then it potentially gives you individual grounds for appealing closure notices.

Bottom line is it could save you tens of thousands of pounds. It's therefore in your own interest to check.

However the devil is in the detail. Let's look at the process they should have followed, and to make it simple we'll use a specific tax year 2003/4.

You would have filed your self-assessment for 2003/4 in January 2005. HMRC then have 12 months in which to open an enquiry ie. up until January 2006. If they missed the cut-off date then they would have had to open the enquiry under discovery.

But they've made mistakes. Enquiries have been sent to the wrong address. Enquiries have been opened late without citing discovery. Closure Notices have been issued where no prior enquiry had ever been opened.

Now let's come to the wording of the actual enquiry letter. At the very least the letter should say they are opening enquiries. It may also reference Section 9a TMA 1970 or Code of Practice 8 (COP8).

In the case of 2006/7 and 2007/8, some people received a letter inviting them to amend their return. This does not constitute opening an enquiry because you can't amend your return once it is under enquiry.

What does it all mean?

Well, if an enquiry wasn't opened properly then the subsequent closure notice may not be valid either. There could be grounds for getting the closure notice withdrawn or appealing on this basis to a tax tribunal.

Checklist

You need to check this for every single closure notice.

1. You should have received a letter, prior to the CN, opening an enquiry.
2. The enquiry should have either been opened inside the 12-month window OR if it was late, it should have included the word "discovery".
3. The letter should have made it clear they were opening an enquiry.
4. The letter should not have invited you to amend your self-assessment tax return.
5. The letter should have advised you of your rights under COP8, and included the COP8 booklet - http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/pdfs/cop8.pdf

If you think they have not followed due process in your case please contact NTRT.

In some of their correspondance to me, I did not receive a letter of enquiry per-se, but a letter basically saying they were including a years return in their previous enquiry. Does constitute the correct procedure?

Also, does a "Notice of Further Assessment" constitute a closure notice?
Thanks.

[DonkeyRhubarb]

In some of their correspondance to me, I did not receive a letter of enquiry per-se, but a letter basically saying they were including a years return in their previous enquiry. Does constitute the correct procedure?

It's probably sufficient.

Also, does a "Notice of Further Assessment" constitute a closure notice?
Thanks.

Will find out and get back to you on this.

[weetbix]

I asked for copies of my CN's as they had sent me demand for payment with penalties.
They then said they couldn't find the CN's but were sure they had been issued, I had no recollection of them being sent, I asked again, and they had another look, and appear to have lost most of my paperwork.

So they accepted a late appeal and mine is all on hold now till whatever happens.

Curious though, what if they cant find these CN's they allegedly sent?.

[DonkeyRhubarb]

I asked for copies of my CN's as they had sent me demand for payment with penalties.
They then said they couldn't find the CN's but were sure they had been issued, I had no recollection of them being sent, I asked again, and they had another look, and appear to have lost most of my paperwork.

So they accepted a late appeal and mine is all on hold now till whatever happens.

Curious though, what if they cant find these CN's they allegedly sent?.

I'm hearing about so many different fvckups, and a lot of people should be able to have their own day in court.

[DonkeyRhubarb]

Notice of further assessment

HMRC have been issuing quite a lot of these since the beginning of the year. Typically this is the first correspondence they have sent out about the tax year in question (no prior enquiries).

Although these notices may not mention the word discovery, they amount to discovery assessments.

We fear some people who have received them have been spooked into paying up. This may partly account for why, according to HMRC, around 200 users have settled in the past 12 months.

[BrilloPad]

I'm hearing about so many different fvckups, and a lot of people should be able to have their own day in court.

Excellent! I still believe all of us should have our own day in court.

HMRC have been issuing quite a lot of these since the beginning of the year. Typically this is the first correspondence they have sent out about the tax year in question (no prior enquiries).

Although these notices may not mention the word discovery, they amount to discovery assessments.

We fear some people who have received them have been spooked into paying up. This may partly account for why, according to HMRC, around 200 users have settled in the past 12 months.

WTF? Why would anyone settle rather than get a CTD?

[DonkeyRhubarb]

WTF? Why would anyone settle rather than get a CTD?

Through ignorance.

In some cases HMRC will have accepted settlement in the knowledge that they were on very dodgy ground eg. where the person's self-assessment return included a DOTAS scheme reference number. There is existing case law (Charlton) covering this:

HMRC not entitled to discovery assessment | AccountingWEB