Tax Enquiry Nightmare Gets Worse

If you are unlucky enough to be the subject of a tax enquiry by the tax man, it could now be an even worse nightmare for you than ever before. HMRC has recently introduced a new bonus scheme for the tax inspectors who conduct the enquiries, which means they have a vested interest in coming down hard on ordinary folk and negotiating far less. The more tax they find you need to pay – in their opinion – the more they will earn.

The average extra tax they are demanding in recent enquiries now averages a worrying £7,778 for each self-assessment enquiry it undertakes – that’s a steep jump of £3,251 extra on last year’s average. The new statistics also show that the amount of extra tax generated just from the band of those earning more than £200k per year has risen to £197 million which is a 150% increase on the preceding year. Clearly those bonuses are having the desired affect on the individual tax inspectors who appear to be squeezing every last penny from each of the enquiries they are undertaking.

It’s times like these when services of tax advisers like TaxFile really come into their own. Because they know the rules (and any allowable expenses) as well as the tax inspectors do, they level the playing field for ordinary hard-working people and can argue the case on your behalf. For a low fixed fee the whole headache can be taken over by an accounting professional who is on your side. Taxfile have offices in South London. Telephone 0208 761 8000 for further information.