Penalties for Incorrect Tax

The purpose of an HMRC tax enquiry is to get you to pay more tax than you declared.  If the taxman is successful in pushing up your tax bill you will probably face a "tax-geared" penalty: of up to 100% of the extra tax - or even 200% if the evaded tax is linked to an offshore bank account.

Tax officers will charge penalties on extra tax due, as a result of their tax investigation, if they believe an error occurred as a result of "careless" or "deliberate" behaviour.  Voluntary disclosures get lower penalties.  If Her Majety's Revenue and Customs believe the error was deliberate and no voluntary disclosure was made the penalty range is a minimum of 35% and a maximum of 70% of the tax.  Serious tax fraud can have a penalty range of 50-100%, or 200% where an offshore bank account is held.

The taxman also has a couple of worrying other punishments in his armoury.  In the case of deliberate fraud, where over £25,000 is paid to HMRC and the taxman is not happy with the level of co-operation and disclosure, he can publish details of the taxpayer: including information about name, address and the amount of tax evaded.  The Tax Offenders register will remain public for a year and HMRC will actively encourage local papers to print stories.  HMRC also have their own version of tagging.  Its "Managing Deliberate Defaulters" programme means that anyone caught fiddling their tax could face intrusive follow up scrutiny for the next 5 years, after the initial tax investigation has ended.

How can Lynam Tax Enquiry Experts help me get a lower penalty?
Lynam Tax specialists are experts in tax penalty negotiations. We have over 39 years' of experience in negotiating tax penalty levels and can use our expertise to substantially reduce, and sometimes eliminate, the penalties that the tax inspector is demanding. We have helped hundreds of taxpayers achieve substantially lower penalties than those first sought by the taxman; including zero penalties in many cases.  

NB. If you, or your client, are facing tax geared penalties, naming and shaming or the Managing Deliberate Defaulters programme,  Lynam Tax Enquiry Experts can help.  The earlier in a tax investigation or dispute you involve us the more we can potentially save you: in tax, interest,  penalties and general grief and hassle.

For a free, confidential and no obligation discussion call Paul Lynam today on 0845 643 9997,
or email partners@lynamtax.co.uk.

PS: In some cases we can help you qualify for the latest tax amnesty terms and so automatically qualify for reduced penalties.