Accountancy training and practice development specialist SWATuk has devised a Tax Risk Management Manual incorporating HMRC’s agent toolkits.
HMRC has so far introduced six toolkits that have been warmly received by agents. According to SWATuk practice consultant Sharon Cooke, HMRC will continue to add to the toolkits, with more than twenty expected in the next year.
The toolkits offer guidance on the areas HMRC has identified as the most common sources of error and are a good indication of the issues most likely to interest tax inspectors.
With the free toolkits in the public domain, it might be reasonable to ask why a firm would need to spend nearly £300 a year for an add-on resource like SWAT’s tax risk manual.
“Ours has more in it than just HMRC’s toolkits and it brings them all into one place,” Cooke answered. “We’ve tweaked it a bit and included our own questions as well as theirs.”
As HMRC adds new toolkits, these will be incorporated into the manual’s Excel-based Tax Checklist Generator. This tool groups the questions into a hierarchical structure covering different risk areas. A top level question presents an overview of the topic, and can be expanded by clicking an on-screen button to display the detailed sub-questions.
“It allows a practice to compile a tailored checklist for the type of return and client they are dealing with and their specific risk profile,” Cooke said.
“Firms can get a little set in their habits, but it’s dangerous to think you don‘t need to work with HMRC’s tools because you already cover it with your processes. HMRC is putting its risk rules into the public domain, so how can you know what they are if you’re not consulting them? The manual makes it easier for firms to compare their core risks with what HMRC are looking for.”
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