Aspect and full enquiries
Whether HMRC is asking about a single figure or a whole return, we agree what is genuinely in scope and push back where a request goes beyond what they are entitled to ask for.
HMRC support
Catering to HMRC inquiries
Seamless access to the information and representation an HMRC enquiry needs, so the response goes back complete and on time.
Everything is centralised in a single place, so all the pertinent data, documents and files can be retrieved swiftly – and every contact with HMRC comes through us rather than through you.
What's included
Every kind of HMRC contact
An enquiry does not mean you have done something wrong. What matters is how it is answered.
VAT compliance visits
Pre-credibility checks on large reclaims and full VAT inspections, with the control account, working papers and edge-case treatments ready to produce.
PAYE and employer reviews
Employer compliance checks including employment status and IR35 questions, plus CIS reviews for construction businesses.
Voluntary disclosures
Coming forward first through the Digital Disclosure Service attracts a far lower penalty than an error HMRC finds. Speed genuinely matters here.
Penalty mitigation and appeals
The penalty depends far more on behaviour than on the amount – careless or deliberate, prompted or unprompted, and the quality of co-operation. All three are argued properly.
Alternative Dispute Resolution
Where a case has stalled and both sides have stopped being useful, ADR brings in an independent facilitator instead of heading for tribunal.
How it works
From letter to closure notice
Four stages, and none of them start with you replying on your own.
1
Send us the letter
Do not reply to it. We read what has actually been opened, what is in scope, and what the real deadline is – they are extendable when a reason is given.
2
Assess the position
We review the return, the records behind it, and whether there is genuinely an error – honestly, and before we respond.
3
Respond and represent
The response goes back complete and on time, and every subsequent contact with HMRC comes through us as your appointed agent.
4
Close it out
Settlement or closure notice negotiated, penalties mitigated, and the underlying process fixed so it does not happen again.
Why it matters
Preparation, not innocence, decides how it goes
Compliance checks are opened for all sorts of reasons – a figure outside the range for your trade, a large VAT reclaim, information from a third party, or simple random selection. What determines the outcome is whether the records exist, whether they support the return, and whether the responses are complete and on time. Where we do the bookkeeping, an enquiry is largely a matter of producing what already exists.
- HMRC deals with us, not you
- Records produced, not reconstructed
- Scope challenged where it overreaches
- Penalties argued on behaviour
What you get each month
What we take on
- All correspondence
- Letters, calls and meetings with HMRC handled as your appointed agent. You are told what is happening, not chased.
- The evidence pack
- Records assembled in a form HMRC can follow, with a schedule explaining what each document supports.
- A written assessment
- Our honest view of the position and the likely outcome, including when fighting a point costs more than the point is worth.
- A fix for the cause
- Whatever let the issue arise – a treatment, a process, a gap in records – corrected so the next return is clean.
Pricing
One fixed monthly fee. No surprises.
Quoted after a free 20-minute call and billed monthly for as long as you need us – no hourly billing, and no charge for asking a question.
- Fixed monthly fee
- No hourly billing
- Questions always included
Questions about
our hMRC support service
Can’t see yours? Call us or drop a message – a person answers.
Ask us something elseSend it to us and do not reply. Deadlines in these letters are real but extendable when a reason is given, and an unconsidered first reply is the single most common way a narrow enquiry becomes a wide one.
Yes. A good proportion of enquiry work comes from businesses who were with another accountant when the letter arrived. We can act on the enquiry alone without you committing to move everything.
Enquiry work is quoted separately from monthly fees because the scale genuinely varies. We give you an estimate after reading the letter and reviewing the records, and we tell you if fighting a point would cost more than the point is worth.
Then a voluntary disclosure is almost certainly the right route, and speed matters. Unprompted disclosure attracts a far lower penalty than an error HMRC finds. Tell us the truth and we will deal with it properly.
Largely, yes. Records that stand up, returns filed on time so no attention is invited, and figures benchmarked against your trade before submission rather than after HMRC questions them.
Next step
Let’s get your hMRC support in order
Twenty minutes on the phone and you will know exactly what you are paying, what we will handle, and what changes.
- No tie-in contract
- Switching handled for you
- Fixed monthly fee