Readers’ forum: Duty to remind HMRC of open enquiry

One of my clients implemented an avoidance scheme over 20 years ago. HMRC raised an enquiry into the relevant return within normal time limits and my client provided large amounts of documentation. There was some correspondence over the first few years but nothing has happened now for at least five years. The scheme is not one which has been litigated and HMRC has made no attempts to close my client’s enquiry or to move it on to litigation. I am as certain as I can be that such an old case has just got lost in the system and that nobody in HMRC is aware that there is still an open enquiry.

If HMRC did issue a closure notice denying my client the advantage of the scheme there would be no point in appealing: there is no way that a tribunal would now find in his favour. The tax involved...