Public House

A husband and wife partnership operated a public house, which was visited by Customs & Excise. The officers did not identify themselves at their first visit. Instead they sat in the bar drinking for a long period and made notes of what type of drinks were sold and how much food was ordered.They then made an appointment to review the books and records of the business. At this visit they paid particular attention to the receipts and till rolls for the period they had observed and tried to identify potential shortfalls. They even checked fro proof of their own purchases.

After a 4 hour visit they went away and raised an assessment for over £10,000 based upon an observation time of one hour.

The accountants fees incurred in fighting the assessment amounted to over £6,000. The fee protection providers were able to advise on reducing the assessment to nil and even reclaim some costs from Customs.

Contrast this with the individual who had a similar experience. He could not afford to pay the accountancy fees to fight the assessment and ended up paying tax of over £12,000 by installments.