With a request for a face-to-face meeting with HMRC, our advice is threefold, don’t go, don’t go, don’t go!

Ask yourself the question, ‘Who has the most to gain from attending an HMRC interview?’ Lindsay believes that it is not necessarily in your best interests. She advises against attending, especially on your own!

There is absolutely nothing in law that states that you must attend a meeting, even though Lindsay has difficulty convincing her clients of that when they have had a written request for one to be held at HMRC’s offices or at your premises.

Letting HMRC into your private home or your business can have dangerous consequences so pick up the phone to Lindsay and she’ll give you some examples of how their 360 vision can spot the slightest thing and raise HMRC concerns. They miss nothing.

There is one type of enquiry, being a COP 9 Investigation into suspected serious fraud, where, although you are not legally bound to attend, it is shown as a gesture of your full cooperation and full disclosure.

It is then in your interest to attend with your specialist advisor in order to answer HMRC’s questions in a full and frank manner and obtain the maximum penalty reductions at the end of the investigation. Proper preparation for this meeting will be carried out by Lindsay as an experienced specialist.

She will take you through a mock interview, leaving no stone unturned, so that when you eventually meet HMRC there should be no surprises. Yes, you will be nervous, but you will be well prepared and will be confident following the vast amount of preparation and forward planning carried out with Lindsay before any meeting is attended.

Many mainstream accountants are not well versed in tax law or confident enough to tell HMRC that their clients will not attend an interview but it is not a legal requirement.

Other than in the cases of serious suspected fraud let your advisor deal with it, let them attend the meeting for you and feedback to you if absolutely necessary.

These days meetings can be conference calls or on online via Zoom or Teams.

Call 07879 464 577 speak to Lindsay who will explain your rights under the Taxes Acts and give you the confidence to take your case forward with her, as forewarned is forearmed and only when you have all the information to hand can you be confident and relaxed about the tax enquiry situation.