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A
free complimentary electronic copy of The Taxpayer Strikes Back
can be downloaded here.
The
Taxpayer Strikes Back: We are proud to announce a
brand new concept in Taxation Books!
Are Tax Inspectors demigods, human incarnations of the
Norse God Thor, able to strike us down at whim with a bolt of lightning?
I think not! Fortunately the general understanding of the authority /
power situation, as frequently expressed to me is a complete misconception,
which I am pleased to correct as follows, briefly here, but in significantly
more detail in the book.
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1. |
Tax Inspectors are simply civil servants earning a wage,
administrators occupying junior management positions within HMRC. |
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2. |
The Inspector’s job is to assist with the general
administration of the UK Tax System, nothing more. |
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3. |
Inspectors do not have any personal powers, just limited
delegated responsibility to implement certain procedures, nothing
more. |
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4. |
Tax Inspectors do not have ownership of the cases they
work on and their importance to the case reduces to nothing when a
new Inspector takes over. |
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5. |
Since HMRC changed the job description to remove the
title "Tax Inspector" I have heard talk of a loss of status!
What status? HMRC staff are ordinary rank and file individuals. |
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6. |
The function of the Inspector is a pragmatic assessment
of the facts. I do not tolerate those unacceptable and often voiced
expressions of, "disbelief", "disappointment",
"surprise", and the like. |
"The Taxpayer Strikes Back" is
the first in a series of books on taxation, looking in detail at Tax Investigations.
Based on the author's personal experience from within the Civil Service
generally, within HMRC and extensive practical work on "this side
of the fence". It says it exactly the way it is, no punches pulled.
This is nothing like the usual "500 tips from the experts" type
of stuff! We have recieved a lot of positive feedback about the book.
One reader who also employed our tax investigation services commented:
"Mr Arthur, I have just finished reading
your book. Easy to read, very informative and extremely interesting.
I would like to purchase two more copies to the useless prats who thought
they knew what they were talking about and only wasted our money. Glad
we employed your services."
The reader is taken step by step through the stages
of the investigation. We consider the Tax Inspector's mindset, why do
they think and act as they do? Then we move to the underlying ethos of
Tax Investigations. What are they allowed to do and perhaps much more
importantly, what they are NOT allowed to do?
Following are a selection of extracts from the book:
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"Isolating a Tax Inspector from the System by making him
personally responsible for his actions renders him a very different
creature."
"The Tax Inspector is a case worker, ensconced in a particular
working environment, working cases as opposed to working with individuals.
This is not a criticism of the individual who has little if any
control of the definition of his working environment. It does however
enable us to understand why the behaviour of individuals may seem
strange to us. For example issuing a letter that in the first instance
thanks a taxpayer for his hospitality at an earlier meeting, and
then goes on to notify him that he has an additional liability of
a million pounds or whatever."
"In relation to evidencing situations generally, always
remember that the burden of proof is the balance of probabilities
and not an absolute one. Consider each case on its merits; is the
Taxpayer's version of events most likely to be the accurate version?
It can be difficult to "face off" a Tax Inspector but
always remember that he is a salaried civil servant. You do not
have to back down if he is intransient and he cannot force closure
against your will! The only entity that can bring final closure
is the appeal system or, exceptionally beyond that, the Judicial
one."
"It should be absolutely clear that the Tax Inspector is
not some sort of remote and powerful God like creature with a vast
array of powers. He is in fact a salaried junior manager, employed
by the Civil Service to assist in the administration of the UK Tax
System. His job is to conduct a factual assessment of the case in
front of him and to come to a reasoned conclusion based on that
assessment. He neither has any personal power, nor does he have
the final say in respect of any outcomes that he proposes."
"The emphasis is that under no circumstances should the
oft quoted references to HMRC's internal instructions be accepted.
In particular do not accept the "rulings" of intransient
Tax Inspectors who do not have the last word. Work and research
the case, find the evidence and stick to your guns!"
"Recording general conversations, meetings and telephone
conversations can provide exceptionally useful data material."
"A proposal to extrapolate figures backwards, forwards
or both should never be accepted unless it is certain that
to do so would not disadvantage the taxpayer. Additional years,
as necessary, should be examined by the accountant. "
A
free complimentary electronic copy of The Taxpayer Strikes
Back can be downloaded here.
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