strange letter from HMRC

strange letter from HMRC

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Hi

Was wondering if anyone had seen a letter like this from HMRC and what would your suggestion be on how to deal with it?

A client of mine received a letter recently from HMRC asking him to check the figures on his 2013/14 Tax Return to make sure they are correct, if they arent he needed to amend his return or tell HMRC straight away. It went on to say he should check previous years tax returns also.

His 2014 Tax Return was submitted 14th August 2014, this letter was dated 21st October 2015, past the deadline for HMRC to enquiry into that return.

Is this a sneaky way of getting to enquiry into returns that they have missed the deadline for?

I know there is the discovery enquiry, not sure if this would work here either.

They are querying employment expenses that were claimed for that particular year.

The 2015 Tax return were submitted without any employment expenses.

I would be grateful for any thoughts on above.

Replies (9)

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By JCresswellTax
28th Oct 2015 10:01

Sounds very sneaky

Were you copied into the letter as agent?

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By BK29
28th Oct 2015 10:09

No, it went straight to my client

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By mbee1
28th Oct 2015 12:26

We've had exactly the same letter, copied into us as agents and a little unsure what to do as the Return is correct.

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By vince8
28th Oct 2015 13:08

odd circumstances

These type of letters normally arise from small amounts of bank interest or for example chargeable events missed off returns. HMRC give you the opportunity to rectify on a voluntary basis without them considering any formal discovery action. First thing I would do is call the officer concerned, they usually give a big clue as to what it is.

The odd bit is employment expenses, are they particularly high? Unless you have given additional information surely there is just one number on the return. What exactly have they asked for?

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Replying to I'msorryIhaven'taclue:
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By BK29
28th Oct 2015 14:36

In my case they ask specifically about the employment expenses.

It does say if you feel the claims are correct then there's no need to contact them.

What rights do they have to open a discovery enquiry?

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By mbee1
28th Oct 2015 13:11

They haven't asked for anything in my case! That's the problem

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By Trish Baillie
28th Oct 2015 14:26

We've had one too

Like the other posters we did not get an agent's copy - only the client got a copy. Fortunately he contacted us.  I simply rang them to tell them the return was correct (they were querying the mileage allowance claim) and also complained that we as agents had not been sent a copy.

I do wonder however what would have happened if we had made no response on the grounds that the return in question was correct - the letter says that if the return is correct there is no need to do anything - but what if we had not contacted them?  Would they then have chased the client?

 

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By maxaca
28th Oct 2015 14:42

similar letters were issued last year

and the CIOT ad ICAEW tax faculty made very strong representations to HMRC about how wrong they were on several levels and that whoever had sanctioned them perhaps needed some 'retraining'; the issue was also raised at Working Together at which point HMRC apologised and promised they would be withdrawn - it would appear that some HMRC officers did not receive the memo (if indeed it ever existed)!

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By Trish Baillie
28th Oct 2015 14:48

In my one they say "we want you to check that the employment expenses you are claiming are correct ....you need to check your 2013/14 Tax Return to make sure any expenses you have claimed meet all of the requirements overleaf.  If you have claimed the wrong amount ... you need to amend your return or tell HMRC straightaway.  Your should also check your expenses for earlier year tax years and tell us if any are wrong."   But, if nothing is wrong and the client does not contact HMRC how do HMRC tell the difference between someone who is ignoring the letter and someone who has checked and found no errors?

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