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The problem here appears to be not that the VAT was not in fact recoverable but that Mr Belford falsified a document shown to HMRC is support of the claim. That was dishonest - and extremely foolish. What a shame!
Mr Belford is (or perhaps was) a chartered accountant & registered auditor.
David
Agent monitoring
If the agent monitoring HMRC say they are getting so much better at results in them weeding out more of this stuff, that would be great.
This guy is local to me and in my view HMRC do not have far to look to find a few more.
What really
makes this quite thought provoking is that here is a man of good character trying it on. Then he got a lifeline, in as much as HMRC said on yer bike. Yet he didn't take notice. That is the action of a very arrogant man or he wanted to get back at HMRC for some reason. Either way he's lost everything for a few grand.
at least he knew
At least Mr. Belford knew where the line was, even if he ended up crossing over it. Some handovers I get it is clear the people didn't even know where the line was. For example, a corporation tax return where capital allowances had been plucked out of thin air as the exact amount needed to give a corporation tax bill of zero.
No support for this whatsoever in the handover files. This client had been used to paying zero tax since the year dot. So when I did the books properly and said "The corporation tax bill is X" he naturally spat his dummy out and ended up going on elsewhere.
We are constantly told how sophisticated HMRC software is at spotting this sort of thing, personally I have very substantial doubts about this.
How are you dealing with this?
At least Mr. Belford knew where the line was, even if he ended up crossing over it. Some handovers I get it is clear the people didn't even know where the line was. For example, a corporation tax return where capital allowances had been plucked out of thin air as the exact amount needed to give a corporation tax bill of zero.
No support for this whatsoever in the handover files. This client had been used to paying zero tax since the year dot. So when I did the books properly and said "The corporation tax bill is X" he naturally spat his dummy out and ended up going on elsewhere.
We are constantly told how sophisticated HMRC software is at spotting this sort of thing, personally I have very substantial doubts about this.
I assume you are taking appropriate corrective action to all relevant authorities?
David
Dishonest accountant
It's such a shame but the actions of dishonest accountant gets us all tarred with the same brush.
I note about the accountant who acquired a client obviously used not to paying any tax. I wonder sometimes about how sophisticated HMRC's methods are at comparing individuals' lifestyles with the amount of tax they pay and looking into discrepancies.
David L
John Belford
He was in the News and Star again today for submitting bogus accounts to Companies House.