Tax Services
Tax is where sound advice pays for itself. With over 20 years’ experience across every direct and indirect tax, we keep individuals and businesses across Northern Ireland, the UK and the Republic of Ireland compliant, well advised, and paying no more than they should — through clear, fully compliant planning, never avoidance schemes.
Company and business tax
We look after the full range of business taxes, working with both HMRC and the Irish Revenue as your operations require:
- Corporation tax (UK and ROI)
- VAT, including cross-border and import/export considerations
- Employer taxes and the tax side of payroll
- Tax on buying, selling or restructuring a business
Personal tax
For individuals, business owners and families:
- Self assessment and income tax returns
- Capital gains tax
- Inheritance and succession tax planning
- Residence and domicile questions for those with interests on both sides of the border
Tax planning
The real value comes from looking ahead, not just reporting after the fact. We help you plan profit extraction, investment, succession and major transactions in a way that’s efficient and entirely above board. We don’t do aggressive schemes — just sensible, robust planning that stands up to scrutiny.
Cross-border tax, handled
Living or trading across the NI–ROI border raises questions that catch people out — double taxation, where income and gains are taxed, which authority to deal with. We navigate both systems so you don’t have to, and so nothing falls through the gap between them.
Who it’s for
Companies, business owners, professionals, private clients and anyone with cross-border tax affairs.
Get your tax affairs reviewed by people who know both systems — see (our accounting services) and (our private client services), or (get in touch).
HMRC compliance — our specialism
We specialise in HMRC compliance for small businesses and individuals. It is the work we are called in for most, and often by people who are not our clients until the letter arrives.
Most contact from HMRC is not a full investigation. It is a nudge letter, a compliance check on one figure, or a request for information — and how the first reply is written frequently decides how long the whole thing runs and what it costs.
Serious investigations and disclosure facilities
We have acted in the more serious end of HMRC work, and in the formal disclosure routes:
- Code of Practice 9 (COP9) investigations — opened where HMRC suspects serious tax fraud, and conducted under the Contractual Disclosure Facility. Accepting the offer means making a complete and accurate disclosure in exchange for HMRC not pursuing a criminal investigation into the conduct disclosed. There is a strict deadline for the outline disclosure and the consequences of getting it wrong are severe. This is not correspondence to handle unrepresented.
- VAT investigations and inspections — from routine assurance visits through to disputed assessments, penalties and the treatment of specific supplies.
- The Worldwide Disclosure Facility — HMRC’s route for disclosing UK tax liabilities relating wholly or partly to an offshore issue. It opened in September 2016 and remains available.
- The Let Property Campaign — HMRC’s disclosure route for individual landlords with undeclared rental income, from UK or overseas property. Still open, with a 90-day window to calculate and pay once notified.
- The Liechtenstein Disclosure Facility — we acted under the LDF while it was running. It closed on 31 December 2015, along with HMRC’s other offshore facilities, and offshore disclosures now go through the Worldwide Disclosure Facility instead.
Terms under these facilities are materially better than being found. The Worldwide Disclosure Facility in particular carries no guaranteed penalty reduction, but a disclosure made before HMRC makes contact is treated as unprompted, and that distinction is worth a substantial percentage of the tax at stake.
Nudge letters
HMRC increasingly writes to taxpayers where its data suggests something may be missing, prompting a review rather than opening a formal enquiry. These letters are generated from data matching — overseas accounts, online platforms, land registry, card takings — and they are not accusations. But they should never be ignored, and they should not be answered casually either, because the reply becomes part of the record.
Compliance checks and enquiries
Whether it is one line on a return or a full review of the accounts, we deal with HMRC directly: what has to be provided, what does not, and how far the questions can reasonably extend. Providing more than was asked for is one of the commonest and most expensive mistakes.
Disclosures
Where something genuinely has been missed or under-declared, an unprompted disclosure almost always produces a materially better outcome than waiting to be found. Penalties turn on behaviour — careless, deliberate, or neither — and on whether the disclosure was prompted. That difference is measured in percentages of the tax at stake.
Penalties and appeals
Late filing, late payment, inaccuracy and failure-to-notify penalties can often be reduced, suspended or cancelled where there is a reasonable excuse or where the taxpayer’s co-operation is properly presented. Many people simply pay them.
Time to Pay
Where the tax is right but the money is not there, an agreed instalment arrangement with HMRC is far better than silence. We negotiate these regularly.
Employment status
The single most common compliance exposure for small businesses in this area — construction subcontractors, salon chair renters, dental associates, locums. HMRC looks at how the arrangement works in practice, not at the agreement. We review status before HMRC does.
What actually happens, and when
Most of the anxiety around HMRC contact comes from not knowing the shape of it. Here is the shape.
If a compliance check is opened
HMRC writes setting out what it is checking and what it wants. It can compel documents and information through a formal information notice under Schedule 36 of the Finance Act 2008, and there are penalties for not complying — but a notice must relate to checking your tax position, and there are categories of document HMRC cannot require. Knowing which is which is most of the job.
You have 30 days to appeal an appealable HMRC decision or assessment. That deadline is real and it is short.
If you receive a COP9 offer
Code of Practice 9 is issued where HMRC suspects deliberate behaviour. It offers a contract: the Contractual Disclosure Facility. You have 60 days from the date of the offer both to send the signed acceptance and to submit the Outline Disclosure. That is HMRC’s own stated period, and it is not generous once you consider what has to go into an Outline Disclosure.
Accepting commits you to a full and accurate disclosure. In return HMRC will not pursue a criminal investigation into the conduct you disclose. Rejecting the offer, or letting the 60 days pass, leaves HMRC free to investigate as it sees fit, including criminally. A disclosure that turns out to be materially incomplete can void the protection entirely.
This is the point at which people most often make things worse by replying themselves.
How far back HMRC can go
The assessing time limits are behaviour-based, which is why the characterisation of what happened matters so much more than most people expect:
- 4 years — the ordinary time limit, applying to all taxes
- 6 years — where the loss of tax was brought about carelessly
- 20 years — where it was brought about deliberately
The difference between careless and deliberate is the difference between six years and twenty. It is argued on facts and evidence, and it is worth arguing properly.
What we do at each stage
- Take over correspondence as your appointed agent, so you are not answering HMRC unaided
- Establish what HMRC actually has, and what it is entitled to ask for
- Quantify the position properly before anything is admitted or offered
- Make the disclosure through the correct facility, with the behaviour characterised accurately
- Argue penalty mitigation on disclosure, co-operation and access to records
- Agree a Time to Pay arrangement where the liability cannot be met at once
Common questions
Do you handle COP9 investigations?
Yes. Code of Practice 9 is issued where HMRC suspects serious tax fraud and is conducted under the Contractual Disclosure Facility. It carries a strict deadline for the outline disclosure and should not be handled without representation.
Can I still use the Liechtenstein Disclosure Facility?
No. The Liechtenstein Disclosure Facility closed on 31 December 2015. Offshore disclosures are now made through the Worldwide Disclosure Facility, which opened in September 2016.
I have undeclared rental income. What should I do?
The Let Property Campaign is HMRC’s disclosure route for individual landlords with undeclared income from UK or overseas residential property. Coming forward before HMRC makes contact is treated as an unprompted disclosure and attracts lower penalties. Once you notify, there is a 90-day window to calculate and pay.
I have had a nudge letter from HMRC. What should I do?
Do not ignore it and do not reply off the cuff. A nudge letter means HMRC’s data suggests something may be missing; it is not a formal enquiry and it is not an accusation. The reply becomes part of the record, so it is worth getting the first response right.
What is the difference between a compliance check and an investigation?
A compliance check is HMRC examining a specific aspect of a return or set of accounts. An investigation is broader and usually more serious. Most contact begins as the former, and how it is handled affects whether it stays there.
Will I get a penalty if I tell HMRC I made a mistake?
Possibly, but an unprompted disclosure — one made before HMRC contacts you — attracts substantially lower penalties than a prompted one. Penalties depend on whether the error was careless or deliberate, and on the quality of the disclosure. Coming forward first is nearly always the cheaper route.
Can HMRC penalties be appealed?
Yes. Penalties can be appealed and are often reduced, suspended or cancelled where there is a reasonable excuse or where co-operation is properly presented. There are time limits, so it should not be left.
Do you deal with HMRC on my behalf?
Yes. We act as your agent and correspond with HMRC directly, so you are not answering their questions unaided. We act for small businesses and individuals across Magherafelt, Mid Ulster and Northern Ireland.