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Revenue and Customs on fishing expedition
Comments
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In accordance with their charter HMRC are not permitted to go on fishing expeditions. Make a complaint. I did and got an apology."A nation's greatness is measured by how it treats its weakest members." ~ Mahatma Gandhi
Ride hard or stay home :iloveyou:0 -
That's what I've suggested he should do. Not responding is, of course, an option. But then again, the lack of response might lead HMRC to issue an estimated assessment, which isn't something you really want landing on your doorstep.
HMRC can make as many assessments as they like as I know they are spouting a load of ill informed rubbish.0 -
HMRC can make as many assessments as they like as I know they are spouting a load of ill informed rubbish.
And if you don't pay the tax that they assess your wife as owing they will then start bunging on fines for late payment and interest.
Do yourself and your wife a favour and just contact them and clear it up before it turns nasty for you.0 -
And if you don't pay the tax that they assess your wife as owing they will then start bunging on fines for late payment and interest.
Do yourself and your wife a favour and just contact them and clear it up before it turns nasty for you.
How can they assess either my Wife or myself for capital gains tax when even for such poorly run outfit as HMRC it must be obvious that we have never owned a property abroad or a second property in the UK. Not sure how it can turn nasty for either of us as any investigation into our tax liabilities would be more than welcome, unfortunately many people believe that HMRC are usually correct but in my experience this is often not the case, or are you suggesting that no matter what incorrect information HMRC have we are considered to be guilty of tax evasion, or are we now living in a police state. I do understand why you're offering this advice and I'm sure that taking it would save plenty of avoidable aggravation but who's to say that HMRC will not come up with some other trumped up claim in the future.0 -
How can they assess either my Wife or myself for capital gains tax when even for such poorly run outfit as HMRC it must be obvious that we have never owned a property abroad or a second property in the UK.
Why would it be obvious to them that you've never owned a property abroad?Not sure how it can turn nasty for either of us as any investigation into our tax liabilities would be more than welcome
So you would rather have to provide all your bank statements, etc for the last X years than do the sensible thing and (as others have suggested) sort out what appears to be an error?suggesting that no matter what incorrect information HMRC have we are considered to be guilty of tax evasion
As missile says, they aren't allowed to go on fishing trips, so they have some reason to believe that your wife is not declaring everything she should be. They won't tell you what they suspect as they will want to give her the opportunity to "hang herself" by perhaps providing evidence of activities they weren't aware of.
Two possibilities spring to mind:- Someone has provided them with "evidence" of your wife avoiding tax - any enemies?
- They have the wrong person.
but who's to say that HMRC will not come up with some other trumped up claim in the future.
Unless there is some reason for them to come up with these claims they are not going to bother - any investigation will prove (I assume) that your tax affairs are in order, so they have nothing to gain from investigating you.0 -
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How can they assess either my Wife or myself for capital gains tax when even for such poorly run outfit as HMRC it must be obvious that we have never owned a property abroad or a second property in the UK.
They will assess your wife based on the evidence that they have and as antrobus says that estimated assessment is a legally enforcable debt.
Sure you could challenge the assessment, but that would involve (as imoneyop says) providing them with copies of all your bank statements, savings account statements and whatever else they demand to prove their information is incorrect.
A lack of response to the letter by your wife will likely be seen as an admission of guilt. Any person with nothing to hide would immediately respond to the letter stating that they must have their facts wrong.0 -
But they can't have any evidence as none exists. I have tried to contact them but life seems too short to spend well over an hour trying to get through especially after going through all the options and waiting for someone to answer, listening to the same music and message for this length of time especially when you're paying for the call would unhinge even the sanest person.They will assess your wife based on the evidence that they have and as antrobus says that estimated assessment is a legally enforcable debt.
Sure you could challenge the assessment, but that would involve (as imoneyop says) providing them with copies of all your bank statements, savings account statements and whatever else they demand to prove their information is incorrect.
A lack of response to the letter by your wife will likely be seen as an admission of guilt. Any person with nothing to hide would immediately respond to the letter stating that they must have their facts wrong.0 -
But they can't have any evidence as none exists.
They have evidence that makes them belive that your wife is not declaring everything she should be. They will use that evidence as their basis for the estimate.
You are saying that evidence is incorrect, so you need to tell them that before they do their estimated assessment.I have tried to contact them but life seems too short to spend well over an hour trying to get through
So send them a letter - it will only cost you a stamp.0 -
No response requested, letter states "may have" so that's why I headed post as fishing expedition. Maybe the next idea will be to send self employed people a letter suggesting that they may have received cash payments they haven't declared so pay up or we may fine you, the possibilities are endless. I started the thread to find out if any other forum members had received a similar request, as neither my Wife or myself have anything to hide from Revenue and Customs I see no point in replying to a letter that is just designed to make Revenue and Customs job easier.
I don't think HMRC do this. It would cost way too much to randomly select people and write to them. Most people's tax affairs are pretty straightforward and they don't owe tax so the amount HMRC would stand to get wouldn't outweigh the cost of writing to everyone.
If this is genuine, for some reason HMRC have reason to believe your wife's sold a property. You really need to find out why."Growth for growth's sake is the ideology of the cancer cell" - Edward Abbey.0
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