Tax Investigation Protection Service Limited (“TIPS”) is a limited liability company, wholly owned by William Duncan & Co, which provides a subscription scheme to clients of William Duncan & Co, Ayr & Cumnock offices to give protection against the costs of dealing with tax investigations by the Inland Revenue.
The scheme was set up in 1999 and has become increasingly popular as clients are finding that the incidence of investigations is increasing under Self Assessment.
For a modest annual subscription, much of the worry is taken away from the taxpayer, who has the comfort of knowing precisely each year how much it is costing to guard against the professional costs of investigations.
A synopsis of the TIPS scheme and its attractiveness could be said to be -
The introduction of Self Assessment has meant a number of fundamental changes to the tax regime. The Inland Revenue now spend less time on administration and much more time on investigating Accounts and Tax Returns. The additional powers include the right of random selection, and they don’t require to give a reason for investigation. The taxpayer has the onus of disproving assumptions or allegations by the Revenue, regardless of time and costs involved. There is a strong chance that you will be selected for an investigation at some time over a five to seven year period. The professional costs in dealing with such investigation can vary quite considerably, but in some cases can come to several thousand pounds. The minimum charges usually start at around £300.
The TIPS services has several attractions including: -
· the cost of your professional fees is spread and, over a period, will be less than typical “one-off” investigation fees.
· you know exactly how much it costs you to guard against the eventuality of you being subjected to random or detailed investigation.
· you don’t have to worry about the costs of being investigated, knowing that the professional costs involved will be met by TIPS.
Details of TIPS scheme, are set out in the TIPS Rules which can be obtained for our Ayr and Cumnock office partner of William Duncan & Co. Details of the costs of joining the TIPS service are set out in the application form, which can also be obtained from William Duncan & Co partners.
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