The News Latest in Tax & Finance

Time and time again we urge those with undeclared tax issues to come forward.

HMRC now publish a list of “tax cheats” on a three-monthly basis, but their latest instalment is a list of tax dodger names, addresses and penalty fines – totalling more than £30m in unpaid tax.

In its latest bid to alarm evaders, the Government published the details of individuals and businesses who deliberately evaded paying £25,000 or more in tax and contains the biggest sum owed by a single business (£29.7 million).

Defaulters were found guilty of offences across a range of taxes including VAT, Income Tax, Corporation Tax and PAYE.

They either inaccurately returned a tax document, deliberately paid the wrong VAT or duty, or failed to comply with certain obligations such as the need to notify HMRC of a liability to pay tax.

HMRC first began publishing names in February 2013, prompting criticism that it was becoming overzealous in pursuing evaders.

HMRC’s Jennie Granger, Director General for Enforcement and Compliance, said that they did not take publishing taxpayer’s names and addresses lightly, “the majority of people declare the tax that is due, but there are a small minority who try to evade their responsibilities. We are publishing the names of tax cheats as it lets the community know we are tackling this and encourage others to get back on track. Each person named today has cheated the Exchequer out of more than £25,000, and that’s unfair to those who pay their tax. In the last year, penalties have ranged from £10,000 to over £29 million.”

Ms Grange, as do we, urges tax evaders to come forward before they get caught. We have worked with a number of incidents now where we have been able to agree terms with HMRC for those with issues which in turn will help being named and indeed shamed.

Don’t take experience for granted

When hiring most professionals you often take for granted that they are qualifies in their profession.  How often do you check out what those letters really mean after their name, often as not we take things on face value, or hopefully I am just more naive than you?  In the UK however, anyone can call themselves an accountant so it is really important that the person you choose  to manage your business finance is the real deal, for which, yes, they do need letters to prove it.

In a nutshell, a qualified accountant is known as a chartered accountant but unlike professions like the family doctor’s MD, or a solicitor’s LLB, there are several acronyms for accountants.

What do accountants’ initials really mean?

The most common accountancy acronyms are:

• ACA – a chartered accountant, qualified by the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England & Wales
• FCA  – someone whose been a chartered accountant for a number of years to become a fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England & Wales
• ACCA and FCCA – qualified by the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants
• CIMA – qualified by the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants

Some accountants also advertise themselves as CCAB-qualified. CCAB is the Consultative Committee of Accountancy Bodies, which is the governing body for all the organisations above, as well as the Irish ICAI, the Scottish ICAS and the public-sector specialists CIPFA.

Some acronyms signify the accountant is particularly skilled in a certain area – for instance, CIMA focuses on accounting for business and  Chartered Tax Advisers (CTA)s are tax specialists, trained by the Chartered Institute of Taxation (CIOT) rather like Rose Duly and Sophie White here at Total Tax Limited.

Adding up numbers is all very well, but some business finance jobs can’t be left to the local bookkeeper. Apart from the fact that by law you are required to keep proper accounts, if you choose to have an audit done, only qualified auditors can do the job.  It truly is worth checking out your accountants credentials before they set to work as this will reassure you and will mean that you will not have to change them at a later date as your needs grow.

If you are still concerned rest assured we know our acronyms so do get in touch.