HMRC reduces small business record checks
That was the plan. Late last year HMRC announced it would be visiting 50,000 small companies to carry out checks on their business records. At that time it claimed to have “serious concerns” about wide scale poor bookkeeping standards within this group. But having now carried out a pilot scheme, it says that it may have “over-estimated the extent of the problem”. As a result, it’s slashed the number of planned visits to 20,000.
Another reason? It’s possible that the real reason behind this decision is the fact it doesn’t have enough staff to carry out all the checks; either way the outcome is welcome news for small businesses. In a nutshell, it means that your chances of receiving a visit from HMRC are now much lower. That said, although the overall risk of an inspection has fallen, the directors mustn’t become complacent - an inspector could still show up on your doorstep unannounced. So stay on top of your paperwork and try to make sure that everything is in order.
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