Top 10 areas producing contentious tax issues

The reasons for a contentious tax matter or investigation can be many and varied. Clients often need to be reassured that it matters not why, but rather how we deal with matters going forward.

Investigations by the tax authorities are not the only area to produce contentious tax matters. Other areas include:

• arguments between business partners
• hostile divorce proceedings with ‘mudslinging’
• due diligence exercises in company sales and purchases which can sometimes reveal skeletons in the cupboard
• employment disputes following or in advance of employment tribunal hearings
• family disputes of any kind where there is knowledge, actual or perceived, of tax wrongdoing
• inheritance pots – the family do not always know from where these monies came, or may disagree how monies have been distributed
• wealthy non-domiciled individuals living in London (or other cities) in expensive accommodation
• use of tax structures – the HMRC perception is often it is offshore and therefore must be to avoid/evade paying tax
• reports in newspapers or on TV – journalists can sometimes put two and two together and make five
• unexpected windfalls can also create jealousy which can sometimes lead to informers’ letters or other reports to the authorities.

The list is not necessarily exhaustive but just shows how events in normal, everyday life can bring tax matters to the fore, and could in themselves lead to tax investigations or voluntary disclosures.

For further information or advice, get in touch with a member of Crowe’s Tax Resolutions team of your usual Crowe contact.