CCM17310 - Discrepancy Examinations: Action: Considering income discrepancy cases with Self-employed income

Income discrepancies involving self-employed income are identified where the amount a claimant enters on the claim form TC600 at Box 5.5 or the renewal notice TC600RD at Box 2.4 is not the same as they reported on their Self-Assessment (SA) return.

The amount entered by the claimant could legitimately differ from the amount of their SA return where the claimant

• had Gift Aid payments, pension contributions or trading losses as described at CCM17270.
• added or deducted an amount for averaging in their SA return, perhaps because they are a farmer or market gardener with fluctuating profits.

Where the claimant is able to provide information or evidence in support of these circumstances you should decide to accept what they say and either:

• not amend the claim or award, see CCM17350
• use the information provided by the claimant to amend the claim or award, see CCM17355 for pre-award cases or CCM17360 for pos-award cases.

Any other differences are likely to be the result of claimant error and you should:

• send a report of what the claimant has said about their SA return to the relevant CCRO on the CCRO referral stencil, so they can take this intelligence into account when considering the return for a potential SA enquiry
• decide to amend the claim or award based on HMRC’s information, see CCM17370.