Will you be one of the 1,500 people receiving a warning letter from HMRC?

In the next few weeks HMRC will be sending out letters to over 1,500 individuals who it suspects are taking part in tax avoidance schemes.

This direct contact to suspected tax avoiders is the first of its kind and is the first process in targeting tax avoidance schemes before their legality is formally addressed.

The National Audit Office have stated that these tax avoidance schemes cost the UK over £10bn a year.

It has widely been reported this week that HMRC are currently dealing with over 40,000 cases of ‘aggressive tax avoidance’, which involves small to medium sized companies and individuals.

This letter will be in 4 versions with the first 700 copies arriving in peoples letter boxes this weekend.

According to HMRC this letter will state  “You are in the small minority of people who have made the deliberate choice to avoid tax. We focus our resources on this small minority. The choice that you have made changes the way we view your tax affairs. Our Specialist Investigations Unit will be carrying out a full investigation into this scheme and they will open an enquiry into your tax affairs.”

These people could then be expected to pay the avoided tax, with interest, and in certain circumstances additional interest.

A HMRC spokesman admitted that those people that receive these letters are free to argue against HMRC investigations, as these tax avoidance schemes have not yet been declared illegal.

HMRC certainly have their work cut out. They have indicated that in the last 4 years they have been made aware of over 400 new tax avoidance schemes.

What does this mean for you and your company? You may not be involved in tax avoidance schemes, but one thing is for certain, no one likes to pay tax! However, there are ways that we at Gordons Knight can help you to pay less tax. We are London based accountants, and we can help!

When was the last time you had someone talk to you about how you can save you and your business tax?

One of our primary goals is to help businesses reduce their tax bill should they wish to.

We do this in several ways, from making sure that we claim all available and legal expenses and allowances for you, through to tax strategies that have the ability to take the Inland Revenue “tax take” down much further still.

The tax strategies are far more aggressive, and usually only viable for higher rate taxpayers with the appropriate view towards tax saving and risk.

All clients will receive a free copy of our “potential allowable expenses” report, along with our report for owner-managed businesses on “How to Save Tax”.

These services are broken down into the following key areas:

• Advice
• Implementation
• Process
• Support

We would consider it an honour to be chosen as your tax adviser, and would welcome the opportunity to discuss your personal and business goals with you, with a view to helping you make the most of every business and tax reduction opportunity available to you.

For more information, and a free quote, please contact our payroll team on 020 8241 3000 or email us: gds@gordonsknight.co.uk.