Are Your HMRC Records Up To Date?

Have you ever thought about what happens if a letter from HMRC is returned to them as undelivered?

Well, HMRC’s new policy is to mark the individual or business as 'missing', resulting in, for example, the business' VAT record being frozen or the individual’s self-assessment account being frozen.

"HMRC won’t seek to contact the individual or business, nor will it contact the agent accountant!"

So, the first time you will notice that something is wrong is when you come to file your Return and you can’t because one hasn't been issued. This doesn't get you out of the responsibility to file a Return or pay taxes, and as you can easily see, it could all end up a bit of a mess. To resolve the issue it’s likely to be the taxpayer who will have to speak to HMRC to reopen their file.

I would certainly recommend that notes of any calls are made in case a penalty is imposed. There shouldn’t be a penalty for the late filing of a Return as a Return wasn’t issued.

Depending on the timings, it may well be that the end of a VAT quarter has passed and that the business will need to complete a VAT Return for 6 months rather than two 3 month periods!

So, if you have recently moved, or are planning on moving in the near future, be sure to add 'Update HMRC records' to your checklist to avoid any issues.

If you feel inspired to find out more about anything I've said here, do call me on 01908 774320 or leave a comment below and I'll be in touch as soon as I can.