HMRC’s different stance on similar situations

In April this year hundreds of (ex)clients of accounting firm Apostle Accounting (AA) received letters from HMRC stating that the tax rebates claimed previously were incorrect. As a result the department is asking these taxpayers to repay often many thousands of pounds in relation to rebates claimed over a number of years. I understand that in some cases the claims go back to 2016 tax returns.

The tax legislation

Ultimately the submitted tax return is the taxpayer’s responsibility even when they had given the accountant authority to file on their behalf.

There are a number of details in relation to AA that are outstanding including but not limited to the ins and outs of the agreement between AA and its clients whether the clients were required to check and approve their tax returns and the level of any discussions held with...