Elizabeth Eyre Ltd provides all of its clients and customers Tax Protection Cover as part of the service.
As an accountancy firm, we have seen an alarming increase in the number of tax investigations instigated by HMRC. It is not just big firms either. HMRC do have the right to investigate any business and indications show the number of businesses with a turnover of less than £150,000 being targeted has increased substantially.
In the past, we have had one of our clients investigated. It took many extra hours of work and 10 months to resolve. Fortunately, the cost of the investigation in terms of the many extra hours Elizabeth Eyre Ltd put into the investigation were covered by the Tax Protection Insurance, saving our client thousands of pounds.
Our approach to any investigation is to settle matters as quickly as possible, and to protect our client against any unfair or unreasonable liabilities.
HMRC will not say what triggers an investigation. Whilst some are undoubtedly random, at times you can see trends by sector, or instances where declared accounts might deviate from current statistics and trends. Undoubtedly having your returns done in time, ensuring you have no omissions and your accounts are in order will help lower the chances of a tax investigation, but not eliminate them due to the reasons above.
We provide Tax Protection cover to our clients as we know first hand what can happen if you are not protected. Just one of the many ways we look out for you.