Revenue Investigation - Complaint

Revenue Investigation - Complaint

Didn't find your answer?

I've had an investigation run on for over 10 months now running up a string of correspondence most of which were resolved by asking the Inspector to read their own guidance. The total tax settlement came to less than £200 on accommodation underdeclared before my time (and which was pointed out straight away)

Obviously the time clock has run up a bill several times that, most of which was answering silly questions that should never have been asked in the first place.

Is there anywhere to complain about this sort of thing? And would it do anybody any good if you did?
Neil Wilson

Replies (3)

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By michaelblake
13th Sep 2005 21:50

Yes See COP 1

There is a Code of Practice (COP 1) available on the IR website that sets out the complaints procedures in full.

If you are lucky you will get a sympathetic response to your complaint from within HMRC but more than likely (in my experience) they HMRC will decide that there was absolutely nothing wrong with their conduct and that you are just whingeing for the sake of it. You will then as the other correspondents have suggested have to refer the matter to the Adjudicator and or possibly the ombudsman by which time another two years will have passed.

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By Sherlock
09th Sep 2005 21:44

or the Adjudicator
You could start off by contacting the office of The Adjudicator. The advantage of this is that if you do not receive satisfaction from her office, then the case can still go to the Ombudsman (via the MP). But not vice versa.

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By AnonymousUser
09th Sep 2005 15:06

Complaint re Investigation
I think that you could try the Parliamentary Ombudsman via your local MP.

A number of years ago (long before SA days) when the IR tried to open a second investigation in the year following the completion of the first one where nothing of consequence was found, I wrote to the District Inspector (as they were known then), asked him to review the client's file and if he didn't agree that the Inspector dealing with the case was harassing my client I would advise the client to go to his MP with a view to bring the matter to the attention of the Ombudsman. Within a week I got a phone call from the DI stating that he had instructed the Inspector to terminate the investigation.

The client of another accountant friend of mine once brought his MP along to accompany them on an investigation interview and he tells me that the interviewing inspector (who had a reputation for being abrasive and bullying) seemed to be petrified of the presence of the MP (who hardly said a word) and that the interview was over in 15 or 20 minutes!

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