UK Businesses Need to Take ‘Reasonable Care’
The latest guidance from HMRC means every business in the UK will have to take even greater care with their financial records, thanks to a swathe of new ‘penalty’ measures being introduced from 1 April 2009 (and, before you ask, no, this is not an April Fool’s joke, unfortunately).
Any error made in your financial returns, for instance, dating from the April 2008-2009 tax period will have to fight its corner if it is to be spared penalty. Once-innocent errors could now be simply errors that are open to attack. As an example, “failure to take reasonable care” with the current tax year’s tax return could result in an automatic penalty of 15-30% of any additional tax due.
I’m not an expert, but I do see a potential problem with interpretation.
The new penalties apply initially to Income Tax (including Self Assessment), VAT, employers paying PAYE, National Insurance contributions, Corporation Tax, Capital Gains Tax and the Construction Industry Scheme.
My advice? Seek the advice of a good accountant, or pay extra care and attention to your records.
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