Working with other advisers to ensure the best outcomes
Another accounting company contacted us about one of their clients because HMRC had opened numerous enquiries into his companies and personal affairs with no sign of resolution in sight.
We reviewed the background and noted there were a number of transactions which were marked in the accounts as consultancy fees, whereas in reality the payments were received by the director into his personal accounts.
We recommended our mutual client should make a request to participate in the Contractual Disclosure Facility in order to secure immunity from prosecution. We navigated our mutual client through the process, working closely with the referring accountant to establish the correct amount of tax that ought to have been paid. It was important for our client to resolve all historic issues in respect of multiple companies and personal tax issues as part of the process, which was achieved by way of contract settlement. We also negotiated the lowest possible penalty, suspension of penalties for the careless understatements and a time to pay arrangement.
Bespoke Solutions
An individual who had deliberately failed to declare consultancy fees as well as operate PAYE on his housekeeper’s salary sought Crowe’s advice.
Our client was an accountant, hence rightfully concerned that HMRC might seek to prosecute him for tax fraud. We recommended he make a request to participate in the Contractual Disclosure Facility in order to secure immunity from prosecution.
Given the specific nature of the issues, Crowe managed to agree with HMRC that it would not be necessary to complete a full blown CDF report, which significantly reduced the amount of time and cost involved in reaching settlement with HMRC.
An individual contacted us, they had received an enquiry notice into a recent tax return. HMRC were asking some very specific questions indicative of there being suspicions that larger problems existed.
While our client was initially reluctant to discuss the wider issues, we convinced him that it was in his best interests to make a full disclosure, not least because we had analysed publicly available data that pointed towards numerous issues which HMRC would of course already be aware of.
The client has since informed us there are numerous inaccuracies, which result in tax liabilities in excess of £1.5 million. We have therefore registered the client for the Contractual Disclosure Facility in order to protect him from prosecution. Furthermore, the act of making a full disclosure will ultimately reduce our client’s exposure to penalties.
We won’t shy away from tough conversations that benefit our clients
Case studies
A few typical instances are shown in our case studies below. For a more thorough discussion of your circumstances, please
contact us.