This Content Was Last Updated on February 9, 2017 by

 

News release in this morning from Qdos Taxwise, who operate our Professional Expenses Insurance Scheme (formerly Tax Enquiry Insurance):

HMRC’s Business Record Checks step up a gear

HMRC have released some early findings in respect of their ongoing Business Record Check pilot, confirming that 44% of enterprises had issues with their record keeping and 12% had seriously inadequate records.

During this initial stage HMRC confirmed it would only issue penalties in the most extreme cases. In the longer term it plans to impose penalties of up to £3,000 for serious inadequacies.


The business records check programme stepped up a gear from mid September, with the number of staff on the project rising from 30 to 120 and HMRC plan to conduct 12,000 checks by the end March 2012.


Keeping adequate records has always been vital and clearly now with the prospect of financial penalties for failure it even more important.


We continue to receive claims from insured clients who have been subject to a Business Record Check and our Taxwise Plus Policy has reacted in the same way that it reacts to a PAYE or VAT Compliance Visit i.e. from the outset, without the need for a dispute (the Policy obviously excludes any reconstructive or routine work required as a consequence of the visit).

HMRC’s information on record keeping can be found here.