HMRC Investigation Support · South East
HMRC investigation support in Colchester
If HMRC has opened a compliance check, an enquiry or a Code of Practice 9 investigation into your affairs in Colchester, you need someone who has handled them before and will tell you the truth about your position. We do both for clients across South East, from first response to closure, at fixed fees per stage.
from £299 · fixed, per stage
Next deadlines
- VAT return and payment for the quarter that ended last month
- VAT return and payment for the quarter that ended last month
- Company tax return (CT600) due 12 months after your year end (a 31 December year end files by 31 December)
- VAT return and payment for the quarter that ended last month
Who this is for
HMRC Investigation Support for Colchester
Anyone in Colchester who has received an HMRC letter: sole traders and landlords with a Self Assessment compliance check, companies with a Corporation Tax or VAT enquiry, employers facing a PAYE review, people who have received a nudge letter about offshore income, crypto or property, and those who know their past returns were wrong and want to disclose before HMRC finds out.
What is included
Everything inside the fixed fee
- Review of HMRC's letter and the return or period under check, with a frank assessment of exposure before you commit
- Agent authorisation so that HMRC deals with us directly and deadlines are managed on your behalf
- A controlled first response: what HMRC is entitled to, what it is not, and the information actually required
- Meetings and correspondence handled, with you briefed before and after every exchange
- Voluntary disclosures prepared and negotiated where tax has been underpaid, minimising penalties
- Penalty mitigation, suspension requests, statutory reviews and tribunal appeals where the facts support them
How it works
HMRC Investigation Support from Colchester, step by step
Tell us your situation
A short message or call about what you do and what needs filing. We ask the questions that determine the right package and nothing more.
Fixed fee in writing
You receive one price for the work, confirmed by email before anything starts. It does not change if the job takes longer than we expected.
Send records, review the draft
Records come by WhatsApp or email. We prepare the draft, explain the figures in plain English and answer your questions.
We file, you get the receipts
Once you approve and the fee is settled, we submit electronically and forward the HMRC or Companies House acknowledgement the same day.
Why IGI
Why Colchester businesses file with IGI
The price for hmrc investigation support is published on this page and is what a client in Colchester pays. We confirm it in writing first, and the invoice matches the quote.
Deadline-first: the dates that matter for hmrc investigation support are shown at the top of this page, diarised for every Colchester client and chased before they arrive.
Online only, UK based. There is no office in Colchester to pay for, which is why the fee is the same here as anywhere in England; the work is done by people in the UK who answer the same day.
Continuity matters in hmrc investigation support: the person who prepared last year's work for your Colchester business prepares this year's, and remembers what was agreed.
The output for Colchester clients is never just a form. It is the form, a one-page summary of what it says, and a note of the decisions it points to for hmrc investigation support.
Approval before filing is a rule, not a courtesy. For hmrc investigation support in Colchester, every submission to HMRC or Companies House follows your written go-ahead.
Local facts
About Colchester
Colchester is in South East, in the CO1 postcode district, England. Income tax in England follows the UK rates: 20% basic to £50,270, 40% higher to £125,140 and 45% additional, with the personal allowance of £12,570 tapered away above £100,000. National Insurance, VAT and Corporation Tax are UK-wide, and Stamp Duty Land Tax applies to property purchases.
| Place | Distance | Direction |
|---|---|---|
| Hythe, The, South East | 1 mi | SE |
| The Hythe, South East | 1 mi | SE |
| Myland Hall Chase | 1 mi | NE |
| Braiswick | 1 mi | NW |
| Whitehall Road | 2 mi | SE |
| Greenstead | 2 mi | E |
| Shrub End | 2 mi | SW |
| Parson's Heath | 2 mi | E |
Worth knowing
Rules that come up in this work
Confirmation statements and identity verification
Every company must file a confirmation statement at least once a year, within fourteen days of its review date, with a £50 Companies House fee. Since November 2025 directors and people with significant control must also verify their identity with Companies House, and the confirmation statement is where existing officers confirm they have done so during the transition year.
CIS deductions
Under the Construction Industry Scheme, contractors deduct 20% from a registered subcontractor's labour invoices, or 30% if unregistered, and pay it to HMRC. The subcontractor reclaims the deductions against their actual tax through Self Assessment, usually producing a refund because deductions are on turnover while tax is on profit. Contractors file a monthly return by the 19th.
Late filing penalties
HMRC's penalties for a late Self Assessment return are automatic: £100 the day after 31 January, £10 a day from three months late up to £900, then the greater of £300 or 5% of the tax at six and twelve months. Interest and separate late-payment penalties apply to the tax itself. Companies House charges £150 to £1,500 for late accounts, doubling for a second consecutive year.
Making Tax Digital for Income Tax
Making Tax Digital for Income Tax began in April 2026 for sole traders and landlords with qualifying income over £50,000, extends to those over £30,000 in April 2027 and is planned for £20,000 in April 2028. It requires digital records in compatible software and four quarterly updates to HMRC each year, with a final declaration replacing the traditional return. Payment dates are unchanged.
The Self Assessment calendar
Self Assessment runs on a fixed annual cycle. Registration by 5 October following the tax year, online filing and payment by 31 January, and a second instalment on 31 July for those making payments on account. The penalties for lateness are automatic and escalate monthly, which is why we file early and chase approvals well before the window closes.
Payments on account
A common surprise in Self Assessment is the January payment that is far larger than expected. That is the balancing payment for the year just ended plus the first payment on account for the year ahead, which HMRC sets at half of the bill just calculated. We put the figure in your hands months ahead and tell you how to adjust it legitimately when circumstances change.
Salary versus dividends
The salary-and-dividend split is the central planning decision for an owner-managed company. Salary costs employer National Insurance above £5,000 but is deductible; dividends are not deductible but attract lower personal rates and no National Insurance. The optimum changes each April with the thresholds and depends on the director's other income, so it should be set deliberately every year.
Questions
HMRC Investigation Support questions from Colchester
Can I pay what I owe in instalments?
Usually. HMRC's Time to Pay arrangements spread settlements over months, sometimes years, depending on the amount and your means. Interest runs but further penalties do not if you keep to the agreement. We negotiate the arrangement as part of closing the enquiry, with realistic figures based on your income and assets.
I received a nudge letter but I think my return is right. What should I do?
Nudge letters ask you to check and either amend or confirm. Do not sign HMRC's certificate without checking thoroughly, because signing a false one is serious. We review the area HMRC has raised, confirm the position and respond. If the return is right we say so to HMRC clearly; if not, we amend before any enquiry is opened.
Can HMRC go back more than one year?
The normal time limit is four years from the end of the tax year, extended to six for careless behaviour and twenty for deliberate behaviour or failure to notify. If HMRC finds an error in one year it will usually ask about others. Part of our job is holding HMRC to the correct time limit for the behaviour actually shown.
Do I have to attend a meeting with HMRC?
No. You are not obliged to attend a meeting and we often recommend written correspondence instead, which gives considered answers rather than off-the-cuff ones. Where a meeting is useful we attend with you or on your behalf, agree the agenda in advance and take our own notes of what was said.
What penalties can HMRC charge?
For an inaccurate return, 0% to 30% of the extra tax for careless errors, 20% to 70% for deliberate ones and 30% to 100% for deliberate and concealed, with higher ranges for offshore matters. Within each range the penalty depends on whether the disclosure was prompted and how much you help. We work to secure the lowest point in the applicable range and suspension where available.
What is a voluntary disclosure and should I make one?
Telling HMRC about an error before it asks. Unprompted disclosures attract much lower penalties, often nil for careless errors, and are the right course when you know a return was wrong. The Digital Disclosure Service, Let Property Campaign and Worldwide Disclosure Facility are the main routes. Our fee from £599 covers preparing and negotiating the disclosure.
Do you have an office in Colchester?
No. IGI Accounting is an online-only firm. We serve Colchester and every other UK postcode remotely, with records sent by WhatsApp or email and everything filed electronically. The absence of local premises is why the fee for hmrc investigation support is the same in Colchester as anywhere else in the country, and why there is nothing to visit and nothing to print.
Is hmrc investigation support in Colchester really the same price as elsewhere?
Yes. The fee published on this page is what a client in Colchester pays and what a client in any other part of England pays. It is confirmed in writing before work starts and the invoice matches the quote. Where a higher package applies because your situation is more complex, we say so at the quote stage, never afterwards.
One message from Colchester, one fixed price
Tell us what you need. You get one fixed fee in writing, and nothing is filed until you approve it.