HMRC Investigation Self Employed Tax Return? Help?

xbethanyx

Hello,
Looking for some advice.
My husband goes to an accountant each year for his self employed tax return. He is a sub contractor so his contractor deducts and pays his tax for him.
His 12/13 tax return was submitted on time and he received a tax rebate.
HMRC then sent a letter about 2 months ago advising they disagreed with the income figures shown on his return when compared with the tax paid by the contractor.
His accountant (who is now an alcoholic...) was made aware of the issue and now i cannot get a hold of him either on the phone or by visiting his office. HMRC are obviously now chasing.
I have no idea what was put on his tax return, but i have matched up the figures HMRC sent and I agree them.
HMRC said they cannot send out a copy of what was submitted on his return and aren't being much help as just keep advising speak to your accountant.
I have no idea what to do or where to go from here? The accountant helping is now out of the question, so I have no knowledge of what was submitted?
Any help or advice would be appriciated (and no he will not be going with this accountant for the tax return forms he has just received...!!)

Delphina

Why would HMRC not send out 12/13 tax calculation that the accountant had submitted on your husband's behalf? Was that because you contacted them as a third party caller? If your husband calls them, they should issue it.

Also please request the 12/13 CIS pay and tax figures from your husband's contractor(s) and compare them to the CIS pay and tax figures on the 12/13 Self Assessment tax calculation the accountant used. If they do not match, look at your records, and especially check with the contractor(s) to find out if any mistakes have been made. If contractor(s) have made any mistake(s), they have to re-submit the correct info. You then notify HMRC accordingly.

xbethanyx

It was my husband who called HMRC directly as I know they will not speak to me.
The contractor figures agree, as HMRC sent those figures out. I think the error is in the tax return, but without it I cannot work out why.
I am also unsure how to amend the tax return once I work out the issue, as it was done online by the accountant?

chrismac1

The likeliest error is in the grossing up of receipts for the CIS scheme. I think you may need to hire another accountant who knows the score on CIS. Note that in my experience roughly 50% of tax enquiries HMRC bring arise from the incompetence of the HMRC person and / or failures within HMRC. Hence no tax ends up being due.

If you PM me your details I can send you some links which might help.

Delphina

So your husband passed security check when he called?

If yes...This is weird. Usually HMRC send the tax calculations out.

The other way to deal with this which is not ideal is to register for Self Assessment online. Once you can get into the system (it does take a week or so), I believe that you can look at previous years' calculations.

The point I was trying to make was that sometimes contractors filed wrong figures so HMRC got wrong figures. So it is ALWAYS worth checking.

As CIS payments gets tax at 20% flat rate, you could look at your husband's bank account and compare the info to the figures from HMRC and contractors.

To be frank, at the end of the day, if you can provide a proof of how much was paid to your husband and the tax paid, the figures put on the return are not the most important. If you failed to get the figures on the original return, you should at least send such proof in plus an explanation re the accountant, to show that you have done the best you can.

Good luck!

iwilldoitthistime

If you agree the figures sent to your husband by HMRC, just tell them that. They will then amend his return to match this figure an he will get a refund or demand for part of the refund back, depending on if the figure is lower or higher than that recorded on his return.

Pennywise

IF he was qualified, then there's a professional body to complain to and he would have a "continuity" arrangement in place with another firm of accountants to take over if he died or became incapable of running his firm. I'd suggest you find out whether or not he was qualified (look at the letter heading which tells you which professional body) and then contact the professional body to ask for their help.