EM3254 - Discovery: issuing discovery assessments: review of working cases
Each year officers should review all their working enquiries to identify tax years or accounting periods where
- HMRC doesn’t have an open enquiry, but
- they have a reasonable belief (see EM3231) that additional tax may be due that is not covered by existing assessments, and
- they are unlikely to reach a settlement by the assessing time limit for the period.
For guidance on the normal assessing time limits , see CH52000. See CH53000 for guidance on extended time limits.
If, unusually, an officer intends to make an assessment for a tax year (ITSA) or accounting period (CTSA) that ended before 1 April 2010, see CH51540.
If an officer is considering making an assessment on the personal representative of a deceased person for periods before their date of death, see CH56100.
It is recommended that officers carry out their review no later than three months before the assessing time limit for the period expires.
Officers may base their reasonable belief that additional tax may be due upon the presumption of continuity, see EM3236.
Under no circumstances should officers use the word “protective” to describe an assessment made as part of their review of working case, see EM3251. To do so will bring the validity of the assessment into question and invite unnecessary challenge from customers.
ITSA
When making these reviews officers will need to consider cases
- where the taxpayer is known to be aged or seriously ill
- where there is undue delay on the part of the taxpayer or the agent.
CTSA
A similar approach should be applied in company enquiries except that a rolling programme of quarterly reviews should take place. Officers should consider both Corporation Tax and CTA10/s455 liabilities.