HMRC are at it again!

I read a very interesting article written by Richard Crisp from Hudson Contact about a new and worrying approach undertaken by HMRC in the construction industry to try and recover as much tax as possible. He has come across situations where HMRC ignored documentation sent to them in respect of a compliance visit and went straight to the workplace and attempted to interview the workers. This is where firms are most vulnerable and should be avoided at all costs. In one particular case it took 7 months of legal arguments and a substantial amount of paperwork before HMRC accepted that all the workers were self-employed. In another case a building company was randomly called by HMRC to try and extract employment information which they would use to criticise and penalise the company. He also warned about HMRC turning up unannounced at a contractors office or freelancers home to seek an interview. They are working on the basis that most people will let them in and start talking. It is therefore vital that any visits by HMRC are reported to us immediately and we can then deal with it ourselves or we can instruct Hudson Contract to ensure HMRC play by the rules.