Revenue Audit

Domer

First time on the accountancy side of boards... so hi to all!!

We have just received notification of a revenue audit for 2008. A few questions:

Does this mean that they will only look at 2008 or will they look at previous / later years?

Should we do the audit at home, or at the accountants office?

Should we be nervous? We have not hidden anything, but are nervous about the whole experience.

Do they take receipts etc away, in which case do we need copies?

Any advice that anybody can give would be appreciated.

Thanks,
Domer

kennyb3

Does it say what tax heads?

They will look at 2008, but if they find an issue may look at other years.

First step would be to contact your accountant, although they probably got a notice too, discuss it with them and take it from there.

If you are satisfied the accounts are well maintained and the accountant has been doing a good job you ve very very little to worry about.

I would definitely have the meeting somewhere professional like the accountants office.

Domer

Thanks for the response.

What is Tax Heads?

It says:

scope of audit - All Relevant Taxes and Duties
Period of Audit- 1/1/2008 tp 31/12/2008

kennyb3

Domer wrote: »

Thanks for the response.

What is Tax Heads?

It says:

scope of audit - All Relevant Taxes and Duties
Period of Audit- 1/1/2008 tp 31/12/2008

Tax heads = what taxes does it cover but i see you ve answered that. In a way its better its all because its just a general audit rather than them spotting something fishy in terms of P30's or Vat 3's.

Genuinely you ve prob nothing to worry about.

EamonOSullivan

OP be prepared for them to find something in the books when they go out to see you. It's like the NCT - somewhere in the books theres the equivalent of a cracked headlight or a bald tyre, and they'll find it. Also as Kennyb has saig if they find something they will look to gather 3 years worth of penalties - e.g. VAT claimed on your household phone bill for 1 year = Euros84 in 2008, the Revenue will look to charge you 3 times that, and leave it at that.

Venue - that will not make any difference, either your office if you can accomodate them or the accountants.

One question to you - what line of business are you in? I ask this because it may be a sectoral audit, and therefore there may not be any specific information that the tax office has about your business, just that they are targetting your sector as a whole.

No need to take copies of anything, its unlikely they will take anything away, or if they do they'll ask you to copy them with whatever they need.

numbnutz

Just a quick question to you guys...Have any of you heard of revenue officials just going through the books to see if the i's are dotted and t's crossed but not an audit as such, more of a friendly chat if thats possible.The reason I ask is because my employer had one such encounter and the feeling was that they are just going through the phonebook or sector as you put it.

MBateson

That sounds like an information gathering exercise for future audits on whatever sector your employer is in.


Regarding whether to have the audit at your business or at your accountants, usually Revenue prefer to have it at your business so they can get a feel for the business onsite. Easier for them to see customer numbers etc.

JoeTurner

numbnutz wrote: »

Just a quick question to you guys...Have any of you heard of revenue officials just going through the books to see if the i's are dotted and t's crossed but not an audit as such, more of a friendly chat if thats possible.The reason I ask is because my employer had one such encounter and the feeling was that they are just going through the phonebook or sector as you put it.

I had a client who recently received a call from what sounded like the Special Investigations Unit to verify he was registered for taxes etc. Thankfully he had the nous to get her contact details and phone number before giving any personal details.

I phoned them back the following day to set his mind at rest and she confirmed to me that they are looking at ad listings, Golden Pages etc and phoning numbers to confirm people are registered for the various taxes. She this was as a result of a growth in what she called the "shadow economy" i.e. people doing nixers, advertising on notice boards etc.

smcgiff

JoeTurner wrote: »

advertising on notice boards etc.

Or Boards.ie

*BIG WAVE TO OUR REVENUE FRIENDS*

ssbob

Nothing to hide = nothing to worry about............

How long you in business?