Flawed guidance?

HMRC have published (6 June) guidance notes for agents on the workings of the new rules for enquiry notes in the light of the amendments made by Finance Act 2007; operational from 2007/08 returns for individuals partnerships and trusts.

Unfortunately the guidance notes as they currently stand seem to contain errors which may not only reduce their usefulness but indicate that the Revenue have forgotten a lesson contained in a case in 1999.

The essence of the new rules is that where a return is submitted before the appropriate filing date depending on whether it is a paper return issued before 1 July or an electronic return where the request to file the return was received before 1 November then the enquiry window closes 12 months 'after the day on which the return was delivered'. If the return was issued later than the dates indicated above...