Yorkshire business advisors offer tax crackdown protection

Business advisors Hentons has launched a new insurance service to protect small firms from costly investigations by the taxman.

This scheme follows Chancellor George Osborne’s announcement about a new crackdown on tax paid by small and medium sized firms as part of government plans to raise £7.2bn.

HMRC tax investigators were given £800m of extra funding by the Treasury to combat non-compliance.

Simon Gray, tax partner at Leeds-based Hentons, which has a team of 50 staff working with growing businesses, said: “The Chancellor made it very clear in his summer budget that he wants HMRC to crack down hard on non-compliance of any kind. We have already seen an increase in the number of random investigations into firms. As a small business owner you carry the cost of an investigation whether the HMRC uncovers an issue or not.

“Hentons’ Premier Protection Client Service gives those running businesses the peace of mind to know that for a very modest annual fee they have up to £100,000 worth of representation and support from our tax experts should they find themselves the subject of an unwelcome enquiry from the taxman.”

Starting from £175 a year, the Premier Protection Client Service insurance launched by Yorkshire-based firm Hentons, will provide small firms with £100k worth of representation if targeted by an HMRC enquiry.

This new service will offers a self assessment enquiry or repayment claim by HMRC or a review, intervention or audit by HMRC concerning compliance with Self Assessment, PAYE, Social Security, Construction Industry, IR35, VAT, National Minimum Wage or Gift Aid legislation and regulations

The service also covers HMRC probes into the personal tax returns of the partners, directors and company secretaries of a business.

Hentons has clients ranging from medical professionals and property investors, to manufacturers, academies and charities. It offers accounts, audit, business strategy and tax advisory services with a partner led approach for all its clients.