Tax Investigation Specialists
Overcoming difficulties together
Dealing with tax affairs can be daunting enough at the best of times, but dealing with a tax investigation or compliance checks by HMRC can cause a great deal of anxiety whether you’re a sole trader, an employer or a PAYE worker. At Branch Austin McCormick, we bring together barristers, solicitors and accountants with extensive experience in tax affairs to make sure that whatever kind of tax problems or complex investigations you may be facing, you’ve got a non-judgemental team of experts on your side.
Legal advice on tax investigations and disputes
We deal with a wide range of tax related legal issues and problems. Some of the matters we’ve dealt with include:
- Full tax investigations
- PAYE investigations
- Civil and criminal tax fraud tribunal and court proceedings
- Information exchange, treaty disputes and other cross-border issues
- Prevention of liabilities in connection with corporate criminal tax offences and related penalty regimes
- Tax-related professional negligence and mis-selling claims
- Tax warranty, indemnity claims and other commercial tax disputes.
- Third-party compliance with tax investigations and penalty regimes
- Judicial Review and other challenges to HMRC’s powers or decisions
Why choose us?
We don’t judge; we get the job done. In working with a smaller, boutique law firm such as Branch Austin McCormick, clients are able to forge a strong, personal relationship with an experienced lawyer.
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What triggers a tax investigation?
There are many factors which may trigger a tax investigation by HMRC, but the most common include unusual activity on accounts or even just the nature of the industry in which you operate. The main specific factors which trigger civil tax investigations are major discrepancies in income from one year to the next, your accounts not matching industry norms, frequent late filing of tax returns or your industry being seen as high-risk when it comes to tax evasion. More often, however, compliance checks will occur at random.
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What happens when HMRC launches a tax investigation?
HMRC will first send a letter requesting information regarding any perceived anomalies. Once the issue is identified, it may simply be a case that you’ve overpaid or underpaid your tax and will either receive a rebate or be required to make up the shortfall. When HMRC suspects deliberate wrongdoing such as tax fraud, however, they may launch a more serious investigation to be conducted by the HMRC Fraud Investigation Service, which could potentially result in criminal charges.
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How can Branch Austin McCormick help with tax investigations?
We usually work to resolve tax disputes through proactive cooperation and engagement with HMRC, resulting in a constructive working relationship, enabling us to deliver positive results for our clients. Where cases are not capable of being dismissed, we will seek early settlement options and we often achieve significant penalty reductions.
