Tax Investigations into large businesses are now taking more than three and a half years to settle, reaching a record 43 months in 2018-19, up 10% from 39 in 2017-18, says Pinsent Masons.
HMRC’s litigation and settlement strategy (LSS), which is designed to resolve tax disputes with a consistent framework, makes it difficult for individual HMRC teams to settle disputes for less than the full amount of tax initially identified as potentially underpaid.
Jason Collins a partner at Pinsent Masons says that ‘HMRC’s inflexible approach to tax avoidance is driving delays as it frequently aims to win every point against the business. This can make it difficult to settle even the simplest disputes.’