We were approached by another accountancy firm regarding their client, because HMRC had opened numerous enquiries into his companies and personal affairs, with no sign of resolution in sight. We reviewed the background and noted there were a number of transactions which were marked in the accounts as consultancy fees, whereas in reality the payments were received by the director into his personal accounts. We recommended our mutual client should make a request to participate in the Contractual Disclosure Facility in order to secure immunity from prosecution. We navigated our mutual client through the process, working closely with the referring accountant to establish the correct amount of tax that ought to have been paid. It was important for our client to resolve all historic issues in respect of multiple companies and personal tax issues as part of the process, which was achieved by way of contract settlement. We also negotiated the lowest possible penalty, suspension of penalties for the careless understatements and a time to pay arrangement. 

An individual who had deliberately failed to declare consultancy fees as well as operate PAYE on his housekeeper’s salary sought Crowe’s advice. Our client was an accountant, hence rightfully concerned that HMRC might seek to prosecute him for tax fraud. We recommended he make a request to participate in the Contractual Disclosure Facility in order to secure immunity from prosecution. Given the specific nature of the issues, Crowe managed to agree with HMRC that it would not be necessary to complete a full blown CDF report, which significantly reduced the amount of time and cost involved in reaching settlement with HMRC. 

We were contacted by an individual who received an enquiry notice into a recent tax return. We noted that HMRC were asking some very specific questions indicative of there being suspicions that larger problems existed. While our client was initially reluctant to discuss the wider issues, we convinced him that it was in his best interests to make a full disclosure, not least because we had analysed publicly available data that pointed towards numerous issues which HMRC would of course already be aware of.  The client has since informed us there are numerous inaccuracies, which result in tax liabilities in excess of £1.5 million. We have therefore registered the client for the Contractual Disclosure Facility in order to protect him from prosecution. Furthermore, the act of making a full disclosure will ultimately reduce our client’s exposure to penalties.   

HMRC’s nudge letter campaign has resulted in numerous individuals and accountants getting in touch with Crowe for advice and support regarding how to make a full disclosure in respect of foreign income and gains. We have helped our clients navigate the complex rules in respect of how many years are assessable and what penalty rates will be applied.

We have also helped our clients ensure that a full disclosure is being made to HMRC in order to reduce the risk of follow up questions. One of the most important factors we have helped our clients with is determining whether there is a reasonable excuse for failing to correct their historic tax position before 30 September 2018, otherwise penalties ranging between 100-200% of the lost tax become due.

A large organisation approached Crowe’s Employer Advisory Group (EAG) to discuss potential errors in respect of claims made via the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS).

The rules are extremely complicated and so there are numerous pitfalls which can reduce an employer’s entitlement to the funds. Our EAG colleagues identified a number of issues and worked closely with Tax Resolutions to make a disclosure to HMRC.

Great care was taken to provide explanations about why the mistakes arose in order to protect our client from the high penalties that can apply. We know from the recent budget that additional funding and HMRC officers will be made available to scrutinise and challenge claims made under the CJRS and the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme. We therefore recommend that professional advice is taken at the earliest opportunity.