VAT investigation - Help!! CONFUSED

[craig1]

The VAT people are about the most helpful government employees I've dealt with as long as you're open and honest with them. I do my own accounts and if I run into something I'm not sure about I call the VAT helpline and always get excellent advice along with an HMRC reference number that tracks the advice they gave me. Last time I had an audit was when I took a good bit of time off and had a quarter with no income but still some outgoings compared to my normal healthy quarterly VAT return, the inspector went through my books for the previous year, checked my contracts and bank statements then we spent a bit of time discussing where I could claim some more stuff back.

The people who seem to get the nasty audits are those who think it's a good idea to be difficult or try to manipulate HMRC inspectors, that's when the rubber gloves come out. Yes, there are going to be arsehole inspectors out there but would it really hurt to be open and honest with them, they're going to get to the truth anyway so why annoy them enough that they decide that it's deliberate evasion rather than accidental.

[namsey]

There is a page with a full breakdown of how much the machine are costing, what the interest charges are, how much deposit is paid, how much the Vat is. I have wrote to them asking for the Vat invoice, I'm just waiting for an answer.


The HMRC office did accept the finance agreement last time as it has the breakdown on it, I'll try and and get a vat invoice our of the financce company, if not I'll tell them the agreement was accepted last time, can they not do the same.

I've found the Vat helpline very helpful, I ring them for advice and they're resolved my queries. I'm just worried about the amount I'm giong to claim again through no fault of my own, unfortunately we haven't had much luck the machinery so we're having to upgrade or close down. We've put too much money & effort into the business to close it down because they supplied us with a 'so called refurbished machine' 2 independant engineers said the machine should have been broken down & the parts used, not sold!!!!

We were assured after refubishment the machine would be 'like new' but they just cleaned it with an air machine, not parts replaced. We could have got the same machine from a local company, same price but in full working order, now we're paying 3 times the price of what we wanted to pay but we don't have a choice at the moment, it either shut down or accept their offer which is what we did.

I'll keep you posted as to what happens, I'm waiting for HMRC to contact me & arrange an appointment or request the papers.

[namsey]

one thing i forgot to mention, the HMRC inspector that came out last time was based locally and he was an absolute **** He was very arrogant, he never once smiled. One machine takes up nearly 2000sq ft and we have 3 of those. He saw all the paper work, our bank statements, every penny was accounted for, it matched the bank statements, except for £214.73, we transferred the money from our account to the finance company, it shows the company name on my bank statement and our company name on the agreement and at the end of it all he wanted to know how how much we paid, when we paid it HE'S JUST SEEN ALL THE PAPER WORK SO WHY WAS HE ASKING ME?????

I couldn't tell him exact dates & amounts as he had all the paperwork. He said I should know the exact figures as they are large amounts? Should I? I've done nothing wrong, but he made me feel like I did.

He sat there with his calculator working things out and we had £214.73 more incoming than what was shown on my invoices and he wanted to know where that money came from? Really? It's £200 quid, I borrowed £500 from my brother as we were a bit short that month on the out goings, he wanted paperwork to prove I borrowed the money?? OMG I rung my brother infront of him and asked him, he confirmed it but he still wanted something in writing confirming he had loaned our company the money interest free. I posted it out first class recorded the same day!

I know it's a large amount we're reclaiming but the only reason I'm dreading another investigation is because he made me feel like an idiot. Unfortunatley we've had back luck with the machines and he saw the bits that were broken of it when he was there and it wasn't working.

I DON'T WANT TO GO THROUGH THAT AGAIN. I just hope they ring the finance company to confirm things and I don't have to deal with him. The agents on the end of the phone are very helpful, HE WASN'T.

All we're trying to do is manufacture a product in the UK, generate more jobs locally, I've got 2 apprentices starting in 2 weeks but I need this mess sorting out before then.