HMRC penalties, letters and queries, handled for you

A brown envelope from HMRC does not have to ruin your week. Most letters are routine, and every one of them is easier to deal with early, whether it is a late filing penalty, a compliance check or a tax code that looks wrong. We read it, explain it in plain English and respond on your behalf.

What we do

Once we are registered as your agent, HMRC talks to us instead of chasing you. We handle the phone queue, the paperwork and the follow-up, whether it is an HMRC compliance check, a penalty notice or a payment plan, and you get a short plain-English summary of what the letter means, what we are doing about it and whether anything is needed from you. Usually nothing is.

We support small businesses, sole traders and limited companies across London, Slough and the rest of the UK, whether the query relates to Self Assessment, a wrong tax code, VAT, PAYE or corporation tax.

What we cover

• HMRC letters and notices: translated into plain English and answered properly
• HMRC compliance checks and enquiries, managed from opening letter to closure
• HMRC penalty appeals, with the reasonable-excuse grounds and appeal letter prepared correctly
• HMRC payment plans negotiated for you when cash flow is tight
• Every reply-by date tracked, so no HMRC deadline is ever missed

HMRC penalty appeals

A Self Assessment filed a day late brings an automatic £100 penalty, daily penalties after three months and separate charges for paying late. VAT runs on a penalty points system instead. Different regimes, one principle: the clock matters.

Many penalties fall to an HMRC penalty appeal where there is a reasonable excuse: serious illness, bereavement, a system failure, a fire or flood, and more besides. The appeal normally has to be made within 30 days of the penalty notice, and a well-argued appeal letter with the evidence attached does the heavy lifting. We write and file them for clients regularly.

Think your tax code is wrong?

A wrong tax code quietly takes the wrong amount from every payslip. Codes go astray after a job change, a company benefit starting or stopping, or an old underpayment being collected, and HMRC does not always catch up on its own.

We check what your code should be, get HMRC to correct it and make sure anything you have overpaid comes back to you. If the code is right but the number is a shock, that usually means something else needs planning, and we will say so.

HMRC payment plans

If you cannot pay a tax bill in one go, HMRC offers instalment arrangements known as Time to Pay. Smaller Self Assessment debts can often be set up online; anything larger, or anything involving VAT or PAYE, means a negotiation.

HMRC responds far better to an early, realistic proposal than to silence. We prepare the figures, propose an affordable schedule and make the call, so the arrangement is in place before the reminders turn into warnings.

Compliance checks and tax investigations

A compliance check is HMRC looking more closely at a return or a specific claim; a full tax investigation is rarer and broader. Most checks are routine, and most close without any change to your tax.

The difference between a short check and a long one is usually the handling: answer exactly what was asked, volunteer nothing beyond it, and keep every response on time. That handling is our job. We manage the whole exchange as your agent, and you get a plain-English summary at each step.

What it costs

Routine letters and queries are part of how we look after ongoing clients. For larger matters such as an HMRC compliance check or a full tax investigation, we agree a fixed fee up front. Use our instant estimate tool for a ballpark, then after a quick call we send your final quote by email. No hidden fees.

Switching to us

Already mid-way through an HMRC compliance check with another accountant? Switching takes one email. We do the rest: we contact your old accountant, collect the correspondence and pick the matter up without losing any time.