You are a professional advisor; you are a tax payer or even own a commercial property. The HMRC has its hands in your pockets and you are rattling off on how to prepare and attend for meetings with the HMRC. The procedural matters and preceding penalties sicken you to the stomach and you are in need for a way out. Well look no further. Your burden is theirs. The end of your stress levels is the beginning of their experience. These are the tax solicitors.
Tax barristers take part in both income and corporate tax investigations. A tax investigation is very serious on your part regardless of whether you need to make a disclosure or not. You therefore need very skilled representation to fight for you on your end lest your business sinks. The HMRC normally has a very wide range of situations subject to testing and the burden of proof for your source of funds entirely lies with you to satisfy the HMRC beyond reasonable doubt. As for the COP9 meetings, the HMRC is not entitled force you to attend their meetings and question you verbally and this is where tax lawyers come in to do this for you hence technically you won’t be hindering investigations.
It does not matter that you are being investigated. What matters is how the investigations are carried out. Cases with the HMRC tend to have the best outcomes. Tax lawyers can counter this with ease regardless of the seriousness of the matter. In some investigations, the HMRC is usually completely out of order and wrongly prosecuting you yet you have done nothing wrong and it is the job of the tax solicitors to fight your way for you and defeat the case presented by the HMRC. There may also be disagreements on interpretation of the law and it is the job of the tax solicitor to come in and clear out the particulars and technical arguments causing disputes between you and the HMRC.
The HMRC does not have the final word in court though in case things go south and here the tax solicitor(s) can help you out with your case at the tribunal appeals. The tribunals are independent entities from the HMRC and you therefore need not worry on favoritism on judgment. The tribunals in as much as they are very informal should not be forgotten are real courts of law.
With increasing tax disputes and fraud over the country, the HMRC has been given the mandate to request tax payment upfront even before settlement of the dispute in court. If the HMRC wins in court it will require you to settle the dispute. If you however wish to proceed with the dispute further to a tribunal, you are required to make an accelerated payment notice and if you lose in court you definitely face the charge of being given potential penalties. You therefore require a reliable tax solicitor if you are to challenge the HMRC in court since the court’s verdict is the final ruling and is legally binding.
