You may need to arrange a meeting with taxpayers
Often a meeting is a good way of breaking the deadlock but bear
in mind that holding a meeting can be expensive and involve a lot
of time so you need to be clear what you expect to achieve. You
should always prepare thoroughly for a meeting and if there are
technical issues to discuss you should consult TG before the
meeting and, if the technical input is substantial, someone from TG
will be expected to attend the meeting and take the lead on that
particular aspect. But in any case at least two members of HMRC
should be present at any meeting.
If during the meeting it is suggested that you talk off the
record this should be politely refused. You should say that you are
prepared to discuss matters on a without prejudice basis but you
should not at any stage say that anything you say is not to be a
matter of record.
After the meeting you should make a note of what was
discussed and agreed. You should send a copy of your note to the
taxpayers and ask them to agree that it represents an accurate
record of proceedings.
There are separate additional instructions that you must
follow for meetings held outside the office (
IHTM09481) or meetings with third
parties (
IHTM09486).
