EM6375 - Contract Settlements: No Settlement Meeting

The taxpayer or his agent will sometimes be reluctant to attend another meeting and will informally ask what offer you have in mind, and whether the meeting can be avoided.

You cannot insist on a settlement meeting but the taxpayer should know exactly where they stand before making any offer. It will be the last opportunity to make any plea for abatement of the penalties you consider to be due. This can usually best be done at a meeting.

Nevertheless you can, if the suggestion is pressed, dispense with the attendance of the taxpayer if all the following conditions apply

• an adequate reason is given (this might be that the taxpayer and/or agent are geographically distant from your office)
• the taxpayer has been given leaflet IR160 and you have fully explained to the taxpayer directly HMRC’s view on culpability
• you are satisfied that the taxpayer understands your views on culpability
• the taxpayer knows what offer you consider appropriate and is prepared to make that offer
• the taxpayer understands (unless the case is one which can be settled locally) that acceptance is a matter for HMRC
• you are satisfied that the taxpayer's means are sufficient for him to be able to meet the obligation he is accepting
• you have covered future conduct EM6390 at an earlier meeting.

You should be more ready to dispense with the settlement meeting in small cases and larger, but straightforward ones (`one-off' omissions or late returns, for example).

You should not normally hold a settlement meeting with the taxpayer alone, unless any agent who is acting is aware than you are doing so and does not object.

In larger and more difficult cases it would require unusual circumstances to justify dispensing with the settlement meeting altogether. If you have to do so the taxpayer should be made directly and fully aware of the HMRC case and of your reasons for the penalty you have decided is appropriate. You should send a copy of your letter to the agent.

Experience suggests that it is in cases settled without a meeting that substandard offers are most frequently made. If you have accepted the taxpayer’s request for no meeting and you receive an offer which is less than the agreed sum you should ask for an explanation of the shortfall and, unless an acceptable explanation is given or the amount is trivial, you should renew your request for a meeting with the taxpayer present. If the taxpayer will neither attend nor make a standard offer you will have to proceed on formal lines EM3950+.