No, they can insist on being given whatever books & records exist, in whatever format they exist. I'd say there's crossed wires there - most people with a business of any kind of size will use excel or bookkeeping software to prepare their books, so the tax official will want the soft copy of such a record, rather than a printout. That's just common sense on their part, as its infinitely quicker to check it in excel than with pen & calculator!
I got the letter. I rang the tax office. I spoke to the person who wrote the letter. I was told they wanted the records by email and on excel. I was not given any options. When I had prepared them on excel (and note Joe, I usually do prepare them on excel). I phoned the same individual and explained that i did not have time to scan 20 invoices for email. The individual said "sure drop them in when your passing"
Firstly, Revenue officers are required to identify themselves to you and show their authorisation card to confirm their identity and that they are authorised to be there.
Its not what you have to do that matters, its how you do it. As I said, when I explained my circumstances there atitude changed. At the end of day 2 I got an apology.
Under the Code of Practice for Revenue Audit and other Compliance Interventions, the auditor is required to explain the benefits of making a disclosure, and give the taxpayer an opportunity to make one, before they begin examining records.
I'm in no way suggesting no Revenue officer has ever been mean or intimidating to a taxpayer, but I'm very conscious that we only have one part of a story here.