Do I have to co-operate with your enquiry?
We would welcome your co-operation with our enquiry and in establishing the correct tax and National Insurance Contributions. The extent to which you co-operate with us and provide us with information is entirely a matter for you. However, in making your decision, you may wish to get help from a professional adviser. If you do, your adviser can accompany you to all meetings held with us.
He or she may correspond with us on your behalf. For further information see Where do I get help?
We will make notes of all meetings and copies of these notes will be given to you or your adviser.
Our enquiry may show that an offence has been committed for which you may have to pay a penalty, which is worked out as a percentage of the tax underpaid or paid late (as described in leaflet IR160 'Enquiries under Self Assessment. How settlements are negotiated').
In calculating the amount of the penalty, we will take into account the extent to which you have been helpful and have freely and fully volunteered any information about income or gains which were omitted or understated. For further information see Penalty
What happens if you do not co-operate
If you cannot send the officer any records or information they requested or give the officer access to them by the date she or he gave you please tell the officer why. If you simply ignore the letter or forget about it you will get a letter containing a formal notice. This will mean you have a set time (normally 30 days) to send in the information we require otherwise you may be charged a penalty. The notice will tell you the time you have in which to provide the records or information and will warn you about the penalties.
The first penalty is £50. Subsequent penalties for a continuing failure to provide what we ask for can be charged at up to £150 per day. This is why it is important to speak to the officer and explain any special circumstances you may have.
The officer may agree to allow you extra time either before or after he or she has sent you the letter with the formal notice. So you should contact the officer at any stage to discuss things.
Sometimes we will ask for documents or information at different times. If you do not send the information we can issue a formal notice each time we ask. We try not to ask you for bits of information at different times and we would ask you if you could to let us have information all in one go. It makes the time we need to complete our enquiry into your return much shorter
| Home | ||||
