EM1830 - Working the enquiry: meetings: preparing for the meeting - attendance at the meeting - holding a joint meeting with the taxpayer’s spouse or partner
In most full enquiries, even if they are conducted on business economics lines, you will need to consider private assets and possibly spending. There is no need to consider the taxpayer’s private finances for aspect enquiries.
In a full enquiry you may also need to involve your taxpayer’s spouse or partner. Apart from the inevitable financial inter-dependence, there may be taxation advantages in transferring income or assets.
How do I proceed if I need to hold a joint meeting with the taxpayer’s spouse or partner?
If you arrange a meeting with both parties, and you wish to discuss their personal spending, income or assets, you must make this clear in advance. Each has a right to privacy, and so you need to ask that if they wish to attend together, they are prepared to discuss these matters in front of one another. If they are not you will have to see them separately.
Their verbal agreement to discuss matters openly will be sufficient but such agreement should always be recorded fully in the notes of meeting. However, there may be rare occasions when a signed authorities will be useful. Such authorities cover general discussion of assets, trading, spending and so on. Any such authority should be drafted on the following lines.
`I hereby consent to disclosure of the following matters to [name of spouse of taxpayer] during the course of the current enquiries into [my or name of spouse or taxpayer’s] affairs
- my business activities
- my taxation affairs
- my personal and joint spending
- personally and jointly held assets
……………………………………….. (Signature)
……………………………………….. (Date)’
If the spouse or partner is unrepresented, write to them separately asking for a meeting. Your letter to the party who is not under enquiry should state what may be discussed, but should not state explicitly that there is an enquiry. Say something like ‘matters connected with your spouse’s or partner’s tax affairs’. The letters should ask whether they will be prepared to attend a joint meeting at which their personal finances are discussed, as this will save a great deal of time.
Even if you have an agreement to a joint discussion, if any matter arises which you feel may be sensitive, you should clear it with the particular partner before disclosing to the other.
When a spouse, civil partner, or any other person is unexpectedly at a meeting, you need to explain to all the parties their rights to confidentiality and ask whether they are prepared to discuss all matters in front of one another. If they are unwilling to do so you will have to see them separately.