| HM Revenue & Customs
(HMRC) is seeking views on how best to
implement a programme of Business Records
Checks, designed to improve record keeping
in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).
HMRC says that although keeping adequate
and accurate business records allows
businesses to comply properly with their
tax obligations, its random enquiry
programme suggests that poor record
keeping is a problem in around 40 per cent
of around five million SME cases.
With research indicating that poor
business record keeping generally leads to
an underassessment of tax, HMRC estimates
that it could be losing out on tax
payments in up to two million SME cases
annually.
HMRC says: “The loss of tax through
poor record keeping, particularly in the
current economic climate, cannot continue
and HMRC is, therefore, determined, to use
the powers at its disposal to improve
business record keeping.”
HMRC wants to check the business
records of up to 50,000 cases annually,
beginning in the second half of 2011, and
impose penalties for significant record
keeping failures.
The consultation focuses chiefly on how
best HMRC can implement a programme of
Business Record Checks, which it says will
bring potential benefits for businesses
including improved financial management,
which in turn will improve firms’ chances
of business success by providing better
information for decision-making.
LINK:
Consultation document |
