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9am Lowdown
AcountingWEB

9am Lowdown: Uncooperative accountant fined £25,000

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6th Oct 2016
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Good morning and welcome to this morning’s 9am Lowdown.

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Uncooperative accountant fined £25,000

A Middlesex accountant has been fined £25,000 for not cooperating with an HMRC tax fraud investigation.

Anil Shah ignored the disclosure notice raised in an investigation against two of his clients, and when challenged, he misled the  investigators by claiming that he didn’t represent  clients.

During the sentencing, Judge Toplski told Shah: “As for culpability, what you did, did impede the proper efficient and fair investigation of serious crime. You had no choice to plead guilty and you knew it."

Simon York, HMRC fraud investigation service director, said: “As a professional accountant Shah's role was to offer sound advice to his clients and comply with HMRC regulations. Instead he abused his privileged position, knowingly broke the law, and failed in his professional duties.”

Shah’s clients were jailed for seven years in 2015 for a £1.2 million VAT fraud.

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BDO reports revenue growth

BDO has reported an underlying revenue growth of £405m, which is a 3.8% increase on last year.

The firm’s profits also grew by 22% to £80.3m, an increase on last year’s £65.5m last year. Their audit team brought in the most business, due to the changing regulatory market creating new opportunities. Revenues increased by 8.3% to £143m compared to £132m last year.

Paul Eagland, managing partner at BDO LLP, says: “The results are testament to our partners and people who have worked diligently and passionately over the course of the year helping our clients succeed. The increase in profits reflects a return on the firm’s investment and ongoing focus on sustainable, profitable growth.”

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Community: Practice valuation after MTD

An AccountingWEB member has wondered whether the impact of Making Tax Digital justifies them bidding low on a practice.

MTD has many consequences, and one which is currently being discussed on Any Answers is how the digital plans will affect in valuing a practice. After discussing the issue, Rowberry has discovered that valuations placed from 0.6 to 1.3 of turnover – and with MTD, they’re thinking of bidding at the lower end.

 Responding to the question, AccountingWEB regular Glennzy said: “The variations in fees will be down to internal systems ie someone who is still using a lot of paper based files is going to need a large time investment to gear up for MTD so would be at lower and someone with all clients on monthly fees and using software at the higher end.”

Regardless of MTD, DJKL advised: “Make an offer at a price you are comfortable with and at a sufficient level that if you are outbid you do not regret not offering more.”

Replies (2)

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paddle steamer
By DJKL
06th Oct 2016 10:24

Richard

To be clear, a Magistrate's Court fined Anil Shah, not HMRC. HMRC will have likely brought the case to the attention of the CPS who will have decided there was sufficient grounds to prosecute.

I hate to say it but "HMRC fines uncooperative accountant" is probably slightly misleading as a caption.

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Replying to DJKL:
Richard Hattersley
By Richard Hattersley
06th Oct 2016 10:56

Thanks for that, DJKL.

I've amended the headline.

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