HMRC enquiries for EBT schemes through SANZAR

[Michael J Perry FCA]

London Seminar on HMRC and EBT Schemes

You must confirm to attend:

Doodle: Seminar on HMRC actions, EBT's and Tax Assessments/Enquiries/COP

[Indeep]

Me too

FWIW I also received my 08/09 letter today.

I have check SA statement and a large assessment has been added for 08/09. I contacted HMRC and asked why I had not received any notification of the decision. They say it must have been lost in the post? They are resending? I hope this does not effect my right to appeal?

Please can someone send me the contact details for the "contractors helpdesk"?

My contract with Sanzar for 08/09 clearly states that:

"you will be paid at a Salery calculated per hour worked, based on the Minimum Wage Legislation (5.42 per hour worked aged 22 years and older and £4.60 per hour for workers aged 18-21 inclusive). You will receive a wageslip for each payment made.

Profit Share Payments: Those employees that are engaged on billable work (as stated in your contract of employment will be eligible to receive Profit Shares from the Partnership. Profit shares are calculated at 85% of the Gross Contract Value after the following have been deducted.

Salary Payments
National Insurance & Income Tax payments
Pension contributions where appropriate
Items agreed with us and authorised by you
Items required by or under any Statute - including any under attachment of earnings orders.

My point is that surely as my employer this makes Sanzar responsible for any shortfall to HMRC as they were provided with the correct tax code, contractually withheld the correct amounts from me and failed to pass the correct amounts to HMRC.

Is the reason Sanzar appear to be funding at least the initial stage with Cobham Murphy a ploy to stop this avenue from been explored further?

[MrO666]

Same boat

Hi all,

I'm in the same boat as everyone else on here re the 08-09 year.

I used CM to appeal and that's been accepted and the balance owed suspended.

What I want to know, is how long do HMRC reasonably get to take this forward now ? I know people will say straight away that it's HMRC and they can take as long as they want, but in reality that's surely not the case. HMRC have been more than clear that interest will continue to accrue on any balance, and in the event that the appeal is unsuccessful then they will no doubt pursue us for that interest. BUT.........they can't sit on this now for 5 years, do absolutely nothing and then say oh by the way, you do owe the money plus you now owe us 8 years interest too.

I thought that under UK law individuals were entitled to finality on tax affairs. Whilst I appreciate HMRC have the right to investigate, surely they must still be bound by some form of timescales surrounding this, otherwise they could sit on these cases for years and years. The obstacle now is HMRC and not us, the ball is firmly in their court so to speak.

Does anybody know whether they have to conclude an investigation is a certain period of time ?

Thanks all

[nasir]

sanzar solution

Hi there,

I have just received a letter from HMRC for the period of 08/09 when I was using sanzar partnership and now i owe HMRC 18k!!!! even though i was only paid 28/hr for like 6 months.
I phoned HMRC and they said it is only an estimate, now shall i send my contract ie which shows how much i was earning and the period (6 months) and the bank statements etc so they can send me the correct sum i owe them?

please advise as I am loosing my sleep what should i do first contact an expert or just pay up?
kind regards

[Scruff]

Nasir - please explain what sanzar partnership is? I haven't got the time to research...

1. If you haven't got an Accountant, get one, ASAP.
2. Were you working through a Limited Company?
3. If yes, then have you filed all the relevant Statutory information (Financial Statements with Companies House, Annual Return, Company Tax Return, PAYE returns, VAT returns etc)?
4. If yes, but you haven't filed ALL of them, file them damn quickly and/or engage the services of (your) Accountant to do so.
5. Have you filed ALL of your Personal Tax returns? If not, do so, or get your Accountant to do so.
6. If you were working through an Umbrella - use your P60 to determine your income.
7. If you were working through an EBT, BOHICA or emigrate.

Whatever you do, DO NOT NEGLECT to respond to HMRC's letter(s).

[malvolio]

How about you look just a little further down the list of posts here. There is a full thread for Sanzar already up and running.

[Scruff]

Good call Malvolio...

[Hazed]

Interest

I think the previous point is a important and if anyone has any ideas, please share. We are all responsible for paying the interest incurred if we are unsuccessful in our appeals, yet HMRC seem to have all the time they want to finalise our affairs. Is there anything we can do to minimise interest liabilities?

[dezze]

Pretty sure they can take as long as they like about it....and then charge interest on it.

[Hazed]

Interest

Hi all, does anyone on here have any advice on how to minimise our liability to interest payments. We are all responsible for paying the interest incurred if we are unsuccessful in our appeals, yet HMRC seem to have all the time they want to finalise our affairs. Is there anything we can do to minimise interest liabilities?