If HMRC has opened an enquiry, questioned a return, issued a penalty or written about previously undeclared tax, the first task is to establish exactly what has happened and what HMRC is asking you to do. Our specialist HMRC support in Manchester covers investigations, disclosures, appeals, penalties and technically complex correspondence for individuals, landlords, directors and companies.
I would not recommend replying simply because a letter has arrived. The sensible first step is to understand the scope of HMRC's concern, identify the relevant tax years and records, check the response deadline and decide whether the point raised is isolated or part of a wider tax issue.
Give us the type of letter or tax issue, the relevant years and any response deadline. Please do not send confidential tax records through this initial form.
A tax investigation, voluntary disclosure and formal appeal are not interchangeable services. The correct route depends on what HMRC has already done, the behaviour involved, the tax years in question and whether a statutory process is already under way.
Review and representation where HMRC is checking a return, business records, transactions or the taxpayer's wider compliance position.
Tax investigations Specialist investigationSpecialist investigation work where Fraud Investigation Service is examining significant or technically complex tax risks outside the COP9 CDF procedure.
COP8 investigations Suspected fraudSupport where HMRC suspects tax fraud and has offered the Contractual Disclosure Facility, requiring particularly careful procedural handling.
COP9 investigations Historic liabilitiesBringing earlier tax affairs up to date through the appropriate disclosure route with the tax, interest and penalty position properly calculated.
Tax disclosures LandlordsDisclosure of previously undeclared residential letting income where the campaign is the appropriate route for correcting the position.
Let Property Campaign Offshore issuesDisclosure work involving foreign income, gains, overseas assets or another UK tax liability connected with an offshore issue.
Worldwide Disclosure Facility Tax disputesReview of assessments, penalties and other appealable decisions where both the technical grounds and procedural deadline need attention.
Tax appealsA response should be complete enough to answer the point properly, but it should also be grounded in reconciled records. Guessing at figures or giving an explanation before the underlying facts have been checked can make a relatively narrow enquiry harder to resolve.
Equally, the answer is not to withhold information that HMRC is entitled to receive. Good representation means identifying the relevant facts, understanding the procedural position and giving HMRC a clear response that can be supported by the evidence.
Establish what HMRC is checking, which periods are involved and which records are genuinely relevant before assembling the response.
A new issue found during the review may need to be dealt with alongside the enquiry rather than left unresolved for another year.
Assessment time limits differ according to the tax and circumstances, so the historic exposure should be established rather than guessed.
The case then involves procedural rights as well as the tax calculation. Appeal grounds and deadlines should be considered promptly.
HMRC enquiry help is most effective when the underlying facts have already been organised. The correspondence, returns, records and relevant deadlines should be reviewed together before an explanation is committed to writing.
Identify the tax, return, transaction and period under review instead of assuming that every aspect of the taxpayer's affairs is already within the enquiry.
Returns, amendments, calculations and earlier correspondence need to reconcile with the explanation now being proposed.
One identified error can affect another year, another return or another tax. That should be understood before the response is artificially narrowed.
A compliance request, COP9 offer, disclosure notification and formal appeal all operate under different procedural timetables.
Different procedures give taxpayers different obligations, deadlines and protections. A specialist HMRC case should therefore be managed according to the procedure actually in use rather than treating every letter as an ordinary enquiry.
COP8 is used by HMRC's Fraud Investigation Service for specialist cases where the COP9 Contractual Disclosure Facility is not being used. It can involve significant or technically complex tax issues.
Code of Practice 8 ↗COP9 is HMRC's civil investigation of suspected fraud. A taxpayer offered the Contractual Disclosure Facility currently has 60 days from receipt of the offer to accept or reject it and comply with the applicable disclosure requirements.
Code of Practice 9 ↗The Worldwide Disclosure Facility currently requires the disclosure to be completed within 90 days after notification acknowledgement. The Let Property Campaign also currently uses a 90-day period following notification acknowledgement.
Worldwide Disclosure Facility ↗For most direct-tax decisions, the ordinary appeal period is 30 days from the formal decision notice. The decision letter should therefore be reviewed immediately even where the technical argument is still being developed.
HMRC tax appeals ↗The level of professional involvement should reflect the seriousness of the case. One missing document is very different from several years of undeclared income, offshore assets, suspected deliberate conduct or a disputed HMRC assessment.
The objective is not to create unnecessary confrontation. It is to establish the correct tax position, preserve the taxpayer's procedural rights and communicate with HMRC on the basis of evidence.
We review the HMRC correspondence, relevant tax years, returns already filed, available records and response deadline before agreeing the scope.
The relevant liability is calculated or reconciled, factual gaps are identified and we consider whether the issue extends beyond HMRC's original question.
We carry out the agreed representation, disclosure or appeal work and continue dealing with HMRC within the written engagement scope.
The correct response depends on the type of HMRC contact. An ordinary enquiry, COP9 offer, disclosure facility and formal appeal all require different decisions and different evidence.
Read the letter carefully and identify the tax, period, information requested and response date. Preserve the relevant records and avoid guessing at explanations before the figures have been checked. If the issue may extend beyond the point raised by HMRC, that should also be reviewed before a substantive answer is given.
Yes. HMRC can deal with an authorised tax agent where the appropriate authority is in place. The adviser can handle agreed correspondence and representations, although the taxpayer remains responsible for providing complete and accurate facts and records.
There is no single period for every case. The applicable assessment period depends on the tax, what caused the loss of tax and the taxpayer's behaviour. Some offshore matters and cases involving deliberate conduct can extend substantially further back than an ordinary error, so the relevant years should be established from the facts.
Both are specialist HMRC Fraud Investigation Service procedures. COP9 involves the Contractual Disclosure Facility and is used where HMRC suspects fraud. COP8 is used for specialist investigations where the COP9 CDF procedure is not being used. Neither should be treated as an ordinary routine compliance letter.
Whether a disclosure is prompted depends on the circumstances in which it is made and what the taxpayer reasonably knows about HMRC's interest in the failure. The distinction can affect penalty mitigation, so the disclosure should not be labelled prompted or unprompted without considering the facts.
Many HMRC tax decisions and penalties carry a right of appeal. The ordinary deadline is often 30 days, but the decision letter should always be checked because the route can differ according to the tax and decision involved. A statutory review and ultimately the First-tier Tribunal may also be available in appropriate cases.
The liability should be reviewed before choosing a disclosure route. Rental income, offshore income, capital gains, business income and other historic issues can require different calculations and facilities. The relevant years and reason for the failure also affect the penalty analysis.
Professional representation does not guarantee a particular penalty. The outcome depends on the applicable legislation, behaviour, disclosure circumstances and quality of cooperation. The adviser's role is to calculate the correct position, ensure the relevant mitigation is presented and challenge an incorrect penalty where appropriate.
The fee depends on the scope and risk. Reviewing one HMRC letter is different from reconstructing several tax years, preparing a formal disclosure or representing a taxpayer through COP8 or COP9. We establish the correspondence, years involved, records available and work required before agreeing the fee. Our general pricing approach is explained on Our Fees .
