Revenue Interview

B

blackwax

Guest
A relative has been sent a letter from revenue asking for a meet as a precursor to determining whether a tax audit (personal not business) is required. He is a paye worker and is sure that he has not underpaid any taxes. The letter requests lots of data to be presented at the meeting e.g. multiple years of bank account statements, credit cards, details on children etc etc. This data contains a lot of information which is unrelated to determining a person’s tax liability.

No reason was given for the request other than the revenue want to determine if an audit is required. He has no problem giving information to the revenue to answer any particular query but he thinks that the data asked for without any reason given is invasive. He doesn’t want to cause a fuss though or force revenue use their statutory powers.

Is it unreasonable to say to revenue that specifc information will only be provided as long as there is a good reason for the request? Should the information only be given to revenue staff at a certain grade? Is it reasonable for him to present the information to show there is no issue but refuse to allow revenue to retain the data?

Any views?
 
He should get professional advice from an accountant or tax consultant. Whether he also needs professional representation at the interview is up to him to decide, but I would strongly recommend it, in order to ensure that his interests are protected.

The Revenue Audit Code of Practice sets out the framework under which audits are conducted.
 
If he has nothing to fear he shouldn't have any problem giving all information to Revenue. You haven't given any examples of which material you deem to not be relevant in determining tax liabilities.

It could be that someone has used the Revenue Confidential line to suggest something is untoward, it could even be a case of mistaken identity if the name given to Revenue is a common one.
 
dereko1969 said:
If he has nothing to fear he shouldn't have any problem giving all information to Revenue. You haven't given any examples of which material you deem to not be relevant in determining tax liabilities.
Click to expand...

People are still entitled to reasonable privacy and the Code of Practice requires Revenue Audits to be conducted reasonably. Hence my advice above.

dereko1969 said:
It could be that someone has used the Revenue Confidential line to suggest something is untoward, it could even be a case of mistaken identity if the name given to Revenue is a common one.
Click to expand...

The Code of Practice assures taxpayers that they can expect 'To be treated as honest in your dealings with Revenue unless there is
clear reason to believe otherwise'. Taxpayers are also entitled to due process.
 
Thanks for the replies.
He is not keen to show bank accounts and credit card statements to an unknown offical without reason as they contain private details of all net income spending over a number of years, where when & what. He has no problem showing them if required in response to specific enquiries. But lets say you are right and it is mistaken identity, is it unreasonable to establish this first? Have no idea what information they are asking about the children, but his kids are only youngsters and have nothing to do with a tax comp.
The code of practice is excellent stuff. Ill pass it on. I looks like hes in line for a non-audit 'profile interview' (pg 79) That states that the risk areas will be identifed in the letter which is not the case here. Also he didnt get 21 days notice, more like 15 days. So they may be breeching their own code of practice before it even starts.
 
If he has no unpaid taxes, then he should not really worry about this. If he thinks he might have, then he needs to talk to an accountant.

Personally I would prefer to have an informal interview and give them whatever information they want than have a formal audit where they would be getting that information anyway.

Brendan
 
I had one of these recently and there were 3 specific queries.
One for example related to my tax return related to my rental property.
So what I did was an excel spreadsheet in relation to each query and brought in the documents to back up the spreadsheets.
They copied the spreadsheet and some supplemental documentation.
I don't remember them copying bank statements, but they may have.

TBH if you friend has some dodgy personal transactions on his statements eg porn sites...he should just man up and not try to wriggle out of showing the statements.

Any evasive behaviour could lead to escalation of the investigation.
Revenue have been very courteous and reasonable to me to date, but then I wasn't evasive.
 
T McGibney said:
People are still entitled to reasonable privacy and the Code of Practice requires Revenue Audits to be conducted reasonably. Hence my advice above.



The Code of Practice assures taxpayers that they can expect 'To be treated as honest in your dealings with Revenue unless there is
clear reason to believe otherwise'. Taxpayers are also entitled to due process.
Click to expand...

Your posts do not contradict anything I've said. I fail to see how someone can expect an audit or an interview prior to an audit to not require the provision of bank account details.

The OP's friend will not be providing the information to an unknown Revenue official, they'll introduce themselves beforehand and probably contact them in advance of the meeting, it's likely to be the Inspector assigned to him/her. That official will be subject to confidentiality obligations as are all Revenue officials regardless of grade.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top