Can I Force The Investigation To End?

If you feel that an investigation has gone on for a long time you can apply to the Tax Tribunal and request that HMRC end the investigation.

HMRC will have to justify keeping the case open. If HMRC are keeping the case open without good reason, the likelihood is that the Tribunal will give a deadline for the case to end.

There are two broad schools of thought on this: first, forcing an investigator to close a case prematurely may result in higher assessments as you have less time to establish your innocence. The second school of thought is that the longer the case is open the more HMRC ‘fishing’ will take place and the greater the pressure on the investigator to bring in a catch, so it’s best to close the case ASAP.

Make it clear to the investigator that if their closing assessments are unreasonable you won’t hesitate to appeal to the Tribunal and complain.

More about Tax Tribunals and how to apply:

www.gov.uk/tax-tribunal/overview

Detailed Guidance and an application to close enquiry:

http://hmctsformfinder.justice.gov.uk/HMCTS/GetForm.do?court_forms_id=3019