EM7551 - Partnerships: enquiries: general

HMRC has the right to enquire into a partnership return, any amendment to the partnership return, or a partnership claim made outside the return.

There is no statutory definition of enquiry, so it carries its normal dictionary meaning of ‘seeking information, asking, questioning’.

To organise work within HMRC, we have historically referred to ‘full enquiries’, meaning an enquiry into the entire return, and ‘aspect enquiries’ which deal with one or more matters. The legislation does not however distinguish between different types of enquiries. The scope of our enquiries is generally into the entire return, unless you are limited to checking an amendment only. You should not refer to ‘full enquiries’ or ‘aspect enquiries’ in communications to the taxpayer.

To enquire into a return an officer must give notice to the correct person and inform them of their intention to enquire into the return. Any notice must be given within the statutory time limits.

If we make no enquiries within the period allowed, or if we have already completed our enquiry, the partnership return becomes final unless

• the nominated partner is still within time to amend the return
• a discovery amendment can be made to the partnership return

When undertaking a partnership enquiry, you should also consider the position of the individual partners to decide the best approach to take. You will also need to coordinate your enquiries with officers who may have an interest in the partnership and/or the partners returns.