Fee protection service
Investigations are stressful, time-consuming and costly for the parties involved. As your accountant, we want to protect you wherever possible which is why we offer a tax investigation service which covers you against the cost of professional fees associated with a tax investigation.
You can read answers to commonly asked questions below, or read our fee protection flyer to find out more about this service and how it can protect you.
What is our tax investigation service?
Our tax investigation service covers you against the cost of additional accountancy fees that you incur as a result of being investigated by HMRC. Tax investigations are time consuming, complex and stressful. You will require specialist advice from us during an enquiry. The more complex your case the greater the amount of time and resource we will need to dedicate to you. Unfortunately, these additional accountancy fees can run into thousands of pounds. We want to protect you from this burden, that’s why we recommend that our clients take out our tax investigation service. This service will safeguard you from the cost of the accountancy fees associated with an HMRC enquiry.
What happens during an investigation?
HMRC can investigate any taxpayer, both individuals and businesses are at risk. Tax investigations can last for many months, even years. During this time, you will find yourself likely to incur accountancy fees as well as having to deal with costly business disruption and probing questions from HMRC. Even if you’re found to owe nothing, you will still be liable to pay your professional representation fees. It’s vital during an investigation, however small it may be, that you seek professional representation from the outset. Our tax investigation service will cover the cost of our fees as well as providing you with access to our experts in handling HMRC enquires and managing your claim.
Why should I join the Tax Investigation Service?
Tax investigations are on the increase. HMRC has spent over £80m on advanced technology specifically to identify businesses and individuals who are identified as having potential tax discrepancies. The sophisticated system trawls a wide variety of sources generating a digital footprint and building a profile of a taxpayer’s total income. HMRC scans Government and commercial data from the likes of financial institutions, Land Registry, DVLA and employers. It uses this information to identify businesses and individuals whose profiles indicate potential inconsistencies and then targets them for investigation.
- £35.5 billion – the estimated gap between what HMRC should collect and what it does collect
- £26 billion – the additional amount of annual tax income that HMRC want to achieve
- £80 million – spent by HMRC to develop advanced technology that monitors your digital footprint for potential underpaid taxes
Your chances of being investigated are increasing year on year. We can protect you from the costs of any additional fees that arise should you be subject to an investigation. With our service, you will benefit from expert advice throughout the enquiry.
What’s covered?
The fee protection service provides you with cover up to £100,000 incurred representing you in the event of any compliance check, visit or investigation started by HMRC regarding compliance with:
- Corporation Tax Self-Assessment
- Income Tax Self-Assessment
- PAYE
- P11D
- National Insurance
- Construction Industry Scheme
- IR35
- Gift Aid legislation and regulations
- VAT visits
- Employer compliance visits
- Check of employer records
- Inheritance Tax
- Child Tax Credits
- Capital Gains Tax
- Stamp duty
- Any HMRC use of pre-dispute information and inspection powers under schedule 36
Full terms of the fee protection policy can be found at www.cronertaxwise.com/premier-professional-policy.
What’s excluded?
- Fraud
- Deliberate Omissions
- Criminal Prosecutions
- Tax, fines, penalties & interest due
- Tax Avoidance Schemes
- Enquiries commencing outside of the Period of Service
Making a claim
In the event of any correspondence or communication from HMRC relating to a potential enquiry or dispute, please speak to Gravita straight away for immediate professional advice. Gravita will make a claim against our (Gravita’s) fee protection policy and credit the proceeds against your liability for fees. You could be liable for fees not covered by Gravita’s Policy.
To find out how we can help you, please email [email protected].
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