Disclosure for the Breeding or Sale of Animals.
Did you know that you may need to declare income from the breeding or sale of animals? This information is from HMRC (His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs) itself, as they are currently sending letters to those, they suspect are earning an income from breeding or selling animals.
If you have received a letter regarding this matter, this blog will explain in more detail why you might have received it and how tax dispute experts can help settle the issue. Experts in our firm will ensure that you comply with tax laws, mitigating any unnecessary tax, interest, and penalties.
If you received a letter from HMRC, it means they have some information suggesting that you have been involved in the sale or breeding of animals without declaring the income.
To HMRC, this looks like you are avoiding paying tax. They may have gathered this information from various third-party sources, such as pet insurance companies, social media, and even bank transactions. Therefore, the letters are not sent out randomly; HMRC has evidence that suggests you are breeding and selling animals. Typically, HMRC suspects that you are a dog breeder. While you need to declare income from the sale or breeding of any animal, HMRC is currently focusing on finding dog breeders who are not declaring their income. This focus is because dogs are a very common pet/guard animals in the UK.
We all want to avoid issues with HMRC. To navigate HMRC disputes, it is important to have accurate records and declare all income, as this helps to avoid potential penalties. You can get assistance with this by going to a Tax Dispute Expert, who can help collect the required records, organise them, and address the issues outlined in the HMRC letter. This helps avoid any penalties and ensures that you comply with tax regulations.
Additional information the letter will say.
As stated before, the letter will explain why HMRC believes you are selling animals without declaring the income. Essentially, HMRC is asking you to declare that you are breeding animals to sell. HMRC will provide a deadline by which you must inform them of your intentions. There are two routes you can take.
The first route is to be compliant and acknowledge that you have sold animals; you will then only have to pay the taxes, interest and reduced penalty from your sales.
The second route is to not declare anything. In this case, you’re at high risk of a full, formal investigation which could potentially lead to a criminal conviction and custodial sentence. You are also likely to incur more legal expenses as well as higher tax, interest and penalties.
The letter will state what will happen if HMRC finds differences between the income and financial information you have reported and the information they have obtained from other sources. For example, it might say something like, “If we determine that you have unpaid taxes, we’ll ask you to explain how this oversight may have happened.” You might think this will be an easy procedure but get this wrong and HMRC could apply higher penalties. To avoid this, specialist advice from Tax Dispute Experts can help prevent such issues.
How our Tax Dispute Specialists Can Support You and their Role
Our Tax Dispute Experts offer extensive support to help you navigate and resolve your HMRC enquiries. In any situation, our experts will thoroughly review the circumstances by analysing your records. This will help identify potential issues, giving you a clear view of your situation and informing you of your next steps.
At Lionhart Tax, our experts can act on your behalf by representing you when communicating with HMRC. This means you won’t need to worry about forgetting important information, as our experts presenting the case will minimise potential liability.
Our team carefully and vigorously reviews your records, which helps our experts communicate effectively with HMRC. By understanding exactly what taxes you owe, we prevent HMRC from adding unnecessary charges, thus reducing the amount you have to pay. Our goal as a company is to ensure that you pay what is legally required and nothing more.
