HMRC Letter - Notice to Provide Information

[ginnelli]

Experiences from people who've been through the washer....


A couple of years ago I used an umbrella company which offered (in hindsight) too good to be true pay.
I've since moved to a more legitimate umbrella company.

I clearly didn't move fast enough though as I've now had a letter from HMRC - "Notice to Provide Information and Produce Documents".

Has anyone had any experience in dealing with these? I'm guessing its something I have to face up to and address head on, but really have no idea what will happen next, how I'll be expected to repay, what lasting implications it may have.

Grateful of any advice or experience anyone can shed on the matter before I respond to HMRC?

[Fred Bloggs]

You have just a few weeks or months of exposure to the "too good to be true" tax avoidance vehicle?

[ginnelli]

You have just a few weeks or months of exposure to the "too good to be true" tax avoidance vehicle?

I regrettably have around a year of exposure.

[Fred Bloggs]

I regrettably have around a year of exposure.

OK, worse than I guessed. Have the tax avoidance people you used been cited in a thread here already? There might be experience of the scheme here in a thread already open.

[ginnelli]

OK, worse than I guessed. Have the tax avoidance people you used been cited in a thread here already? There might be experience of the scheme here in a thread already open.

no, not come across them in any threads yet...have tried searching. I'm kind of resigned to this being unavoidable...I see the error of my ways etc etc...just really keen to understand how it gets dealt with. increased tax over a period of time to repay? One lump sum payment? etc

[Fred Bloggs]

no, not come across them in any threads yet...have tried searching. I'm kind of resigned to this being unavoidable...I see the error of my ways etc etc...just really keen to understand how it gets dealt with. increased tax over a period of time to repay? One lump sum payment? etc

OK, all those aspects have been covered in depth here over the last few years. It might be that the scheme you used was a variation on another scheme. The scheme providers often used several names/schemes over the years. You might have to name the scheme you used to find any other former users here. There have been various tax advisers here over the years dealing with the fallout from the schemes. One of them was WTT but they got chased away by other posters. You might get lucky and find a person who used the same scheme as you and can recommend someone to give you some specific advice on the scheme.

[Chevalier]

Echoing other replies, recommend professional advice before replying.

While some requests might be for specific documents, other questions might be an invitation to self incriminate.

If it’s a s36 notice, any appeal against specific requests must be notified within 30 days. Penalties can be incurred for non compliance.

https://www.qdoscontractor.com/tax/g...ule-36-notices

Sadly for more recent years, penalties may also apply unless independent (ie not related to the scheme) tax advice was sought. These can be reduced for “good behaviour”