Tax Health Plan (Amnesty for Medical Professionals)
Liechtenstein Disclosure Facility
Corporation Tax investigations
Disputes, Tribunals and Internal Review
The rules in relation to PAYE, benefits in kind and National Insurance contributions are by no means straightforward. Employer Compliance visits have proven to be very lucrative for HM Revenue and Customs and they should not be regarded as a routine matter. It is very common for an Employer Compliance visit to be followed up by a full investigation.
Employer Compliance officers have, exceptionally, always had the right to visit business premises and ask to inspect wages records. Take care to ensure that your procedures are well understood by those who are meant to implement them. Ensure that all of your expense claims and wages records are up to date.
Many accountants offer payroll services to clients and will no doubt be able to give your systems a quick "health check" in advance of any visit. If managed properly there can be administrative benefit to you from an Employer Compliance visit. There may be an opportunity to secure a dispensation in relation to certain expenses and benefits in kind.
Employer Compliance Officers tend to be relatively junior members of staff who are not given any discretion in the approach they adopt. It is not uncommon for their instructions to be wrong and it may be necessary to engage with senior management in order to change the officer’s opinion about something.
This problem manifests itself most particularly with status enquiries (whether someone is self employed or employed) and IR35 (whether there would be an employment contract but for the interpolation of a service company) enquiries. In cases of doubt there is almost always an automatic presumption on the part of HM Revenue and Customs that an employment exists. Hector Hector has had considerable success in dealing with disputes of this nature on behalf of clients.