Tax Investigation Insurance

Last year alone, HMRC opened over 320,000 tax investigations, many of which were randomly selected. That means anyone, from individuals to businesses, can be subject to an investigation at any time. These inquiries can cover a wide range of tax areas, including Self-Assessment, VAT, and Corporation Tax.

About investigations

HMRC has the authority to inspect your business records and assets on-site and can request documentation going back as far as 20 years. These investigations are time-consuming, often lasting over a year, and can be highly disruptive to your business operations.

If HMRC notifies you of an investigation, don’t panic. As your accountant, we can act on your behalf. We’ll handle all communications, interpret HMRC’s complex queries, gather the necessary information, and work to minimise disruption to your business and personal life.

Why is insurance important?

It's important to note that our standard fees do not cover the work involved in supporting you through a tax investigation. That’s where Tax Investigation Insurance comes in. With this insurance, our professional fees related to the investigation are fully covered, ensuring you won’t face unexpected costs during an already stressful time.

We offer this insurance to limited companies, partnerships, sole traders, and individual clients.

A Real Example

Recently, one of our clients was selected for a random investigation, even though they had ceased trading in August 2023. HMRC wanted to review VAT returns from the past four years, with no specific reason given.

Fortunately, the client had paid their annual Tax Investigation Insurance in July 2023, meaning they were still covered. All the time spent by Kym reviewing returns, corresponding with HMRC, and compiling documentation was fully covered by the policy and not billable to the client.

Help us to help you

Should HMRC investigate you, they’ll request access to all related documents and receipts. Thankfully, because we maintain digital records via Dext, we can easily retrieve and submit the necessary information- no paper files or stress on your end necessary.

That said, the more complete your documentation is when we prepare your returns, the less likely HMRC is to raise concerns. Providing thorough and timely paperwork helps us file accurate returns and helps protect you from unnecessary scrutiny.

Be Covered from 1st July

Our Tax Investigation Insurance runs from 1st July to 30th June each year. To ensure you're covered for the coming year, contact your account manager.

Let us take the stress out of HMRC investigations- get protected now.