Keep records of HMRC conversations, taxpayers advised

Date: 2nd December 2009

A campaigns group has advised members of the public on how to deal with tax disputes.

The Low Incomes Tax Reform Group said that taxpayers should keep notes of any telephone contact with HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC), including the time and date of the call and what was discussed.

Telephone conversations are potentially inadmissible as evidence in tax disputes, as there is often no documentary record of what was said during the calls.

Taxpayers who contact HMRC in order to get advice also work off their recollections of the conversations, rather than the conversations themselves.

Recent case law also indicates HMRC advice must be put into writing by the customer, if it is later to be used as part of a tax dispute case.

"Taxpayers or claimants mis-hear or misunderstand what they are being told, or HMRC can get things wrong," the Low Incomes Tax Reform Group pointed out.

"The consequence, if the taxpayer or claimant relies on wrong advice or a misunderstood conversation, can be a tax liability or a tax credit overpayment that need not have occurred, and which it is difficult to displace."

Posted by Emma Clarke