11. The final figures are not the final figures

The final decisions are not the final decisions, the final documents are not the final documents, the last figures are not the last figures. This is Hell.

Let’s say the investigation is officially over and HMRC send you closure notices which state “I have now completed my enquiry into your Tax Return for the year ended…” – sounds pretty final doesn’t it? But it’s not.

In the event you choose to appeal HMRC’s calculations they may well choose to re-evaluate the entire case and in that process the figures will be reinterpreted and more expenses will be disallowed, the result is that your tax bill could well triple!

The new figures come through the door with a thud and a small ream of explanation. But the real message in that ream could be put down in one sentence on one side of one page of A4: “If you are going to fuck with us we are going to fuck with you.”

Yes, that’s what happens when you start to use your right to appeal – and it’s common practice.