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Tax Investigation need advice please

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    Tax Investigation need advice please

    hi
    just filled in a tax return at the tax office about 5 mts ago .
    done this at the tax office due to not having a clue how to fill one of these things in.....the person who worked there told me what to put down ( i told the person there, how many miles i was doing a week, and how much i was paying for digs)
    also claimed for some other things to cloths and tools etc but this did not come to much.....
    so i told him how much i was paying a week etc and he told me which boxs etc i should fill in....
    did go a little over the top by mistake mostly because i told the person how many miles traveling i was doing per week in miles, and i think it may of been worked out wrong.
    got a rebate from them( around £1000 ),, i was self employed - sub contratoring working away from home......i was getting paid by peace work .
    after sepember of last year the work was that bad ( getting paid low wages) i left and i have gone back to being employed which is a lot bettter...
    2 mts later the firm went out of bussiness so had a few problems getting my vouchers , but did get them after a few phone calls which the inland revenue have .
    yesterday got a letter from the inland revenue saying my claim is being Investigated.. they want documents etc from my claim ( things i claimed for travel and digs etc)
    thing is when i got my cheque i through that was the end of it.
    being employed now i binned all of my documents. apart from the odd petrol reciepts.
    what should i do next just ring the office right away and explain to them what has happened i dont want to be done for fraud because i have done nowt wrong, or should i get advice from somewhere else first.. ( if so who)
    if i just tell them i binned them by mistake do u know what will happen next?
    i have been doing some reserch on the net and i have heard if u throw the documents away etc u will be fined from the inland revenue...
    i feel i could of made a big mistake here and an getting worried .
    i am never going to become self employed again it is stressfull.i should of claimed 0.00..

    all advice is really welcome

    #2
    Get your shift key fixed.

    Comment


      #3
      Vicky, you are supposed to keep all records for at least 6 years. I take it you didn't consult an accountant when you went self employed?

      Could you try & reconstruct the calculations that went into the return?

      You could try and negotiate with the tax office you originally attended, see what they have to say. If they don't accept your explanation then find an accountant to argue on your behalf.

      Comment


        #4
        Even without the receipts you can back up some of your expenses surely? You do have paid invoices that presumably show you were working at x and had reasonable travel, accomodation and other expenses consistent with that. Try and work back to show all your reasonable expenses. If you let the Revenue make their own estimate it will be in their favour because they are bastards! They are used to clueless people having less of a clue than a long term resident of clueless Arizona so them accusing you of fraud is not really a concern, their overestimate of tax payable is.

        PS Never fill in tax returns or any other annual forms until the last minute, that way it gets lost in the huge deluge of forms from others doing the same.

        Comment

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