ONSCG6250 - Template letters: application not accepted

Please ensure that the text of this letter is correctly inserted into the appropriate letterhead for your line of business and carefully adapted as indicated inn the body of the letter.

Where replying on a NICs related clearance, any reference to tax should be expanded as appropriate to cover tax and NICs.

Caseworker or CCM’s address, plus phone, email

For the attention of

Business or Advisor’s name & address

Date

Our ref: [Any reference number allocated locally.]

Your ref: [Any customer reference from their correspondence]

Clearance ref: [Clearance reference allocated by Non-statutory Clearance Team]

Dear …

Clearance application received… [date received in HMRC - day 1 of the 28 days]

Thank you for your recent correspondence.

I am unable to accept your clearance application and so will not be confirming HMRC’s view.

Your application did not meet the requirements as set out in our guidance on the clearances service we provide because [author of letter to choose appropriate response and delete other options]

  • You have not provided all the necessary information - see the checklists in the Non-Statutory Clearance Guidance at Annex A or Annex B or Annex C for details of what you need to provide
  • HMRC does not think that there are genuine points of uncertainty [Author of letter to clearly explain why HMRC believes there is no uncertainty and direct the customer to the relevant guidance].
  • You are asking HMRC to comment on valuations and/or interest rates used which do not fall within the Non Statutory Clearances remit as it does not relate specifically to uncertainty regarding the legislative interpretation covered by these clearances.
  • You are asking HMRC to give tax planning advice, or to “approve” tax planning products or arrangements
  • Your application is about treatment of transactions which, in HMRC’s view, are for the purposes of avoiding tax
  • HMRC is checking your tax position for the period in question, therefore you will need to contact the officer dealing with the check
  • Any related return for the period in question is final
  • There is a statutory clearance applicable to your transaction
  • You have submitted a minor variation of a previous clearance application. [for use where the customer has submitted a wholly new clearance application following a disagreement from us on a previous clearance application.]
  • We suspect that the arrangements are primarily to gain a tax advantage [in rejecting an application on this basis, AAG must be involved and approve the rejection. AAG will provide appropriate words on a case by case basis.].

I am therefore unable to provide HMRC’s view of the tax consequences.

Yours sincerely

Name of caseworker/CCM

Title/role within HMRC

Direct line phone number