HMRC Enquiry letters on Loans from EBT and other schemes

[LandRover]

Have HMRC got data issues?

Seems like HMRC have no records of what loan amounts are and clearly they have huge holes in their data. So the Settlement Letters are asking you to fill in the blanks for them?

If you fill in the form to give them schemes for years prior to 2011, then if you have an enquiry for just one year then aren't you giving them more information that might decide to claim tax on previously unknown years?

[malvolio]

Seems like HMRC have no records of what loan amounts are and clearly they have huge holes in their data. So the Settlement Letters are asking you to fill in the blanks for them?

If you fill in the form to give them schemes for years prior to 2011, then if you have an enquiry for just one year then aren't you giving them more information that might decide to claim tax on previously unknown years?

Which bit of "Self Assessment" are you having trouble with? Tax may or may not be owed - that is the whole point of the fight, after all - but refusing to give them details of your earnings simply means they will treat your case as potential fraud and look a lot harder and a lot further back. Hiding legitimate information is not a really good idea at this stage.

[z4thras]

Which bit of "Self Assessment" are you having trouble with? Tax may or may not be owed - that is the whole point of the fight, after all - but refusing to give them details of your earnings simply means they will treat your case as potential fraud and look a lot harder and a lot further back. Hiding legitimate information is not a really good idea at this stage.

They should already have this information from the P11D's and from the SA itself.although that may not be the case on a scheme by scheme basis, i know my one all info they require was provided via SA & P11D.

[Rob79]

They should already have this information from the P11D's and from the SA itself.although that may not be the case on a scheme by scheme basis, i know my one all info they require was provided via SA & P11D.

Do not assume that:

a. information supplied by a third party exempts you from providing the same information if asked, and
b. That HMRC is joined up enough to collate information

Failing to supply information requested will bring you close to deliberate or willful default and that could increase penalties.

I suspect that HMRC has a "lead" team which looks at the technical aspects of the scheme, discusses with the litigation and policy teams the approach to take and is responsible for writing to participants.

Once they have reached a decision and a method of calculation, a team of processers will be drafted in. They may have little understanding of the scheme and are there just to churn our assessments and demands.

Once the assessment and demand are away, the position will be handed over to the Collection department (DMB) who undertake the obvious (clue is in the name).

Subsequent appeals and discussion etc will continue with the lead team.

[Nissan07]

Is there any practical advice that the more experienced can offer. I received my letter last weekend and not even sure where to start. Been out of the contracting game for a few years now.

I have spoken to an accountant who will advise of my potential liability if i provide amounts.....youch! I understand the 6 year rule may not apply as some sort of enquiry was made years back (which I do vaguely recall) and was dealt with by the umbrella which means HMRC could go back all years.

If I don't accept their offer and it goes to tribunal, am I represented by an accountant or do i require legal representation.

Excuse the simplistic questions but I cannot find this information anywhere

[LisaContractorUmbrella]

Is there any practical advice that the more experienced can offer. I received my letter last weekend and not even sure where to start. Been out of the contracting game for a few years now.

I have spoken to an accountant who will advise of my potential liability if i provide amounts.....youch! I understand the 6 year rule may not apply as some sort of enquiry was made years back (which I do vaguely recall) and was dealt with by the umbrella which means HMRC could go back all years.

If I don't accept their offer and it goes to tribunal, am I represented by an accountant or do i require legal representation.

Excuse the simplistic questions but I cannot find this information anywhere

If you decide to fight you will still have to pay over the money that is in dispute with HMRC; you will only get it back (with interest) if you win. I would suggest that you appoint a specialist tax QC - one that's used to battling with HMRC. Unfortunately if you win there's no guarantee that you will back your legal costs and if you lose you may end up having to pay HMRC's costs plus interest and penalties on the tax debt. What type of scheme did you use??

[Not Losing Any Sleep]

Taxman hands back £4m after mistakes - Telegraph
This is a bit different to HMRC's so called 80 per cent success rate. My guess is that far too few people use this facility.

[varunksingh]

If you decide to fight you will still have to pay over the money that is in dispute with HMRC; you will only get it back (with interest) if you win. I would suggest that you appoint a specialist tax QC - one that's used to battling with HMRC. Unfortunately if you win there's no guarantee that you will back your legal costs and if you lose you may end up having to pay HMRC's costs plus interest and penalties on the tax debt. What type of scheme did you use??

1) don't go to tribunal with OUT a good QC and resources. You need around £300,000 for a proper FTT representation.
2) Join or make a group. Only 300 in group and costs are manageable.
3) if scheme had merit and you have details to prove, no point settling with HMRC. Many scheme were legal in theory but were not implement properly.

Doing this with OUT proper advise from council and SPECIALIST accountant is going to create more trouble for you and others - like Boyle! Don't do it. HMRC is waiting for weak cases to set precedence, it was published as part of HMRC's plan

[eek]

HMRC Enquiry letters on Loans from EBT and other schemes

If you decide to fight you will still have to pay over the money that is in dispute with HMRC; you will only get it back (with interest) if you win. I would suggest that you appoint a specialist tax QC - one that's used to battling with HMRC. Unfortunately if you win there's no guarantee that you will back your legal costs and if you lose you may end up having to pay HMRC's costs plus interest and penalties on the tax debt. What type of scheme did you use??

Not quite. If you settle now that is the end of it. It is a settlement offer.

If you don't settle an APN will probably be issued eventually. This needs to be paid within 90 days.

Some time after that a tribunal may appear at which point there is a chance you may get the tax back but this could be years away

[Nissan07]

Thanks all, I will investigate a specialist tax QC at least for an initial chat

If 300k is the ballpark figure for FTT representation I'm not sure that's viable...too late for insurance now
I will see if I can locate a group, hopefully there are some scheme members out there
Will also find out my potential liability and see where it stands

Scheme was an EBT