# advice on revenue audit



## 8till8 (4 Feb 2010)

Can anyone offer advice on how to prepare and handle a revenue audit?  _(have they preference regarding biscuits?)_


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## Graham_07 (4 Feb 2010)

For starters, my experience is that the chocolate goldgrain is the preferred munchie of Revenue Auditors.  . That being said I have encountered some who would not even accept a glass of water ( for fear of appearing too pleasant or seeming under a compliment maybe ) 

Seriously though, if you have an advisor, accountant, auditor then they will have experience of this and can guide you through the basic process. If you are flying solo on this, then the most important things would be :-

Have a look at the Revenue's for Revenue Auditors 

Make sure you review the accounts and records of the year(s) concerned and all relevant tax heads under review to see that you have all necessary information / records to hand.

If you become aware from that review or are already aware of issues which may mean tax underpaid then you need to look at making a disclosure before the audit gets under way. The RA will ask at the start is there anything you want to tell me now and that is your cue. Penalties for early disclosure are less than those which come from the RA digging it up themselves. 

Do not be afraid to ask the RA to explain anything that you do not understand and, if in doubt or if the audit looks like it cannot be concluded in the one session, ask them to write down the issues they may have problems with and tell them that you will review the matters and get back to them.

Other posters may have further bits of wisdom to impart on this, sometimes nervewracking, experience.


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## Arch2 (4 Feb 2010)

Graham's advice is super.  I think he has covered all the main points.

I particularly think you need to consider whether you need to make a voluntary disclosure.


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## papervalue (4 Feb 2010)

8till8 said:


> Can anyone offer advice on how to prepare and handle a revenue audit? _(have they preference regarding biscuits?)_


 
any idea why you were selected. is their anything odd in you accounts/ tax returns for last few years. 

Nowdays i feel their is very few random audits. their is nearly always a logical reason for someone to be selected. they have software now for identifying trends and case selection

If their is an issue, might be better to be upfront on day1 about it- if they know they are getting some money they might complete it fairly fast or

if everything in order if could be over in a few hours

is it vat audit/ paye audit or tax return audit


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## skenny (4 Feb 2010)

Had a vat audit about three years ago for no particular reason (that I knew of). I'd been told by my accountant not to panic and that they always tend to find 'something' even if just to justify their expense for the day's visit! On the day I worked away in the same office as the rev official and she was fine, didn't say much but was happy to accept tea/biscuits etc and she asked questions/ looked for clarification as she went, which I was happy to give her.  Thankfully in the end they found nothing out of order, not a dicky bird which was a huge relief!
Good luck with it, it may very well be random.


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## Mommah (4 Feb 2010)

We were audited a few years ago and it went fine.
There was a query about 2 large deposits into our account one January.
It took me a while to remember what they were.

One was the sale of a car and the second an insurance payment.
They did ask me to find paperwork to support this and I found the insurance stuff, but couldn't locate the car evidence, they were fine about it.

So have a look through your accounts and identify any big incoming money and figure out where it came from and try to find evidence of its source.

Overall it was not a bad experience.


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## MaryBe (4 Feb 2010)

Just had a revenue audit last week with one of my sole traders.  Depending on the size of the company will depend on how many auditors come to your office.  We had one auditor who was polite and courteous. (If you read your letter you will find they have to be as you should too)

The audit starts with an initial meeting.  Questions are asked relating to the workings of the company e.g company cars, employee benefits, etc.  The owner is required to be at this meeting.  The last question asked is for any disclosure to be made before the audit begins.

I asked if we were randomly selected or if there was something that flagged this audit.  The auditor explained that the form 11 does not have enough lines to give a breakdown of expenses and our expenses were very high last year hence audit.

The audit lasted approx 2.5 hours.  Auditor very pleased and us very happy.

Do not fret.  If your accounting practices are correct and your records in order there is nothing to worry about.  Good luck.


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## babaduck (4 Feb 2010)

A solicitor friend of mine was "randomly selected" for an audit very recently - one of her major clients was a builder who recently went into receivership & we reckon that's where the "random" came from...


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## mercman (5 Feb 2010)

Had 2 Revenue Audits in the one year in 2008. Have your accountants prepare the papers for the Revenue as there is some special way to present your papers. Tell them if you have anything to declare at the beginning of the meeting. They will ask you some specific questions on the strangest things. My first was on All taxes and it took them nine months to give the thumbs up. As soon as that was done, I had an offshore Revenue Audit. This took another five months and had to pay nothing. As for the biscuits don't bother, they are only doing a job and in fact they really are only human.


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## 8till8 (5 Feb 2010)

Thanks for everones replies, its nice to see that its a fairly common event. I've nothing to confess to so I'm not concerned in that way but still its stressful getting everything ready when its such a wide scope.


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