Discovery Letter

Hi there,

We have received a discovery letter for the periods 2002 and 2003, claiming that income has been received from property letting (personal).

However, the person concerned has not received any property income, during that time, previous periods, or even subsequent periods.

The letter claims that the inspector wishes to make a discovery under section 29 of the TMA 1970, I presume since the time for a normal enquiry has now lapsed.

What could be the real underlying reason for this "discovery" since the claim for property income is wrong, is the Inspector fishing for reasons to start a discovery (and we give them one by replying with unneccesary details)?

What is the best way to deal with such a request? My concern as stated above is that we wish to avoid giving a reason to open a discovery, mainly because of the waste of time and effort it will represent.
Colin Artiste