News Item: Indisputable VAT Experience at Pierce
PIERCE ENEWS ISSUE 11
| The sight of an Inland Revenue inspector often sends shivers down the spines of our clients. But not when it comes to Andrew Stephenson, who heads up our specialist VAT team, who happens to be a former employee of Inland Revenue. |
| Andrew is no stranger to many Pierce clients having joined us in 1997. He leads a team that works with business on VAT risk management, planning, returns and investigations. Many companies struggle to navigate VAT as it’s such a complex tax. Innocent mistakes can often be seen as intentional and HMRC will leave no stone unturned when investigating. Pierce’s VAT services include: VAT health check We can undertake a VAT health check to set your mind at ease - or alert you to the action you need to take to avoid problems arising (including a liability to a penalty). Customs are no longer content to make random control visits - they have adopted a risk-based approach to ensure that the vast majority of their reviews are selected and targeted to deliver a result. Planning We can work with you in maximising your input tax recovery whilst legitimately minimising your output tax liability. VAT is now far from the simple tax envisaged when it was introduced. There are numerous sources of decisions, rulings and findings that may impact on your business. Careful and well considered advice is essential to avoid inadvertently incurring a liability or a penalty. Returns Do you sign the VAT returns for your business? If you do, you are responsible for ensuring that these are accurate and complete – and submitted and paid on time. We can assist you in the preparation and submission of your returns. In addition, we can also advise you on the timing of invoicing and of the best method for preparation of the return itself. Partial exemption If you make a mixture of taxable and exempt supplies, then for VAT purposes you are regarded as 'partially exempt'. As a consequence you may not be able to reclaim all of the VAT on your expenses. We can advise you how to legitimately maximise your input tax recovery. In addition, if you are partially exempt you should review your input tax recovery on an annual basis and again we can do this for you. Property Property is one of the most – if not the most – complex area of VAT, full of pitfalls for the unwary which may deny you the right to reclaim input tax, or lead you to overpay VAT. Should you be considering anything to do with land or buildings, we recommend that you seek expert advice before you go ahead. Import duty deferment If you regularly import goods into the UK from outside of the EC, then it is possible to apply to Customs to defer payment of the VAT (and any duty) due until 14 days after the end of the month. You have to formally apply for approval and we can arrange to advise you of the procedures and implications, as well as submit the application for you. Investigations With new, bigger powers, HMRC already makes enquiries into your VAT affairs over and above the routine VAT visit. We have staff with many years' experience of dealing with both indirect and direct tax investigations, and can deal with these on your behalf. In addition, we can also arrange for insurance to cover the cost of professional fees in dealing with an enquiry. Since the Inland Revenue and Customs & Excise joined forces to form HMRC, its joint resources and expertise has led to a more rigorous and frequent investigation process. A visit can be a difficult and stressful time but help is at hand with Pierce which can provide a rapid response and deal with such issues on your behalf. As with many aspects of business, prevention is often cheaper and easier than the cure. We can also provide fee protection insurance via Abbey Tax Protection to help safeguard against the cost of an enquiry. Time to Pay scheme We have helped defer over £6million worth of tax and VAT on behalf of our clients through the government's Time to Pay scheme. We can negotiate with HMRC on your behalf if you are having cash flow difficulties and need to spread tax and VAT liabilities. If you would like to arrange a VAT health check or would like to know more about our fee protection insurance, please call Mary-Lou Duggan on 01254 688100 or email enquiries@pierce.co.uk. Events If you would like to attend our World Cup event on June 23, or our Emergency Budget event on June 24 please click on the links below. |
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