HMRC Investigation Support · North East
HMRC investigation support in South Shields
If HMRC has opened a compliance check, an enquiry or a Code of Practice 9 investigation into your affairs in South Shields, you need someone who has handled them before and will tell you the truth about your position. We do both for clients across North 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 South Shields
Anyone in South Shields 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 South Shields, 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
What you get in South Shields
No hourly rate and no surprise invoice. South Shields clients know the fee for hmrc investigation support before they send a single document, and it stays fixed.
We work to the HMRC and Companies House calendar, not an appointment diary. Clients in South Shields get reminders at 60, 30 and 7 days before each date that applies to hmrc investigation support.
We serve South Shields remotely by design: records by WhatsApp or email, drafts back for approval, filing electronic. The saving on premises is passed to you in the fee for hmrc investigation support.
A named person handles your hmrc investigation support from South Shields and knows the file, so you are not re-explaining your business to a different helpdesk each time.
We explain hmrc investigation support in the words South Shields business owners use, not in accountant's shorthand, and we show our working so you can check it.
Nothing is filed for South Shields until you have reviewed and approved it. You see the draft, you ask questions, you sign off, then we submit and send you the receipt.
Local facts
About South Shields
South Shields is in North East, in the NE33 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 |
|---|---|---|
| The Lawe | 0.3 mi | N |
| St. Hilda | 0.4 mi | SW |
| Mill Dam | 0.6 mi | SW |
| Milbourn Place | 0.6 mi | W |
| Laygate Street | 0.7 mi | SW |
| Mill Dam Valley | 0.7 mi | SW |
| High Shields | 0.7 mi | S |
| Shields, High | 0.7 mi | S |
Worth knowing
Rules that come up in this work
Switching accountants
Changing accountant is simpler than most people fear. You authorise the new firm, which writes to the old one for professional clearance and your records; the outgoing accountant must hand over your own documents and usually does within two weeks. The new firm registers as your agent with HMRC and picks up the next filing. There is no need to wait for a year end.
Closing a company
Striking off a company is cheap but must be done in order: stop trading, file the final accounts and CT600, pay the tax, close VAT and PAYE, distribute the remaining assets, close the bank account, then apply. Anything left in the company at dissolution passes to the Crown. Distributions up to £25,000 are taxed as capital gains; above that a formal liquidation is usually needed to keep capital treatment.
Employer National Insurance
Since April 2025 employer National Insurance has been 15% on earnings above a £5,000 secondary threshold, a substantial increase for small employers. The Employment Allowance rose to £10,500 at the same time to soften it for the smallest businesses. Directors deciding their own salary weigh this cost against the Corporation Tax deduction a salary provides.
Workplace pensions and auto-enrolment
Workplace pension compliance is part of payroll, not separate from it. Each pay period the payroll assesses who is eligible, calculates employer and employee contributions on qualifying earnings between the lower and upper thresholds, and sends the contribution file to the scheme. The minimum total is 8%, and many employers choose to contribute more as a recruitment advantage.
Dormant companies
A dormant company is one with no significant accounting transactions in the year, where the only permitted entries are the payment for shares on incorporation, Companies House fees and penalties. It still files a confirmation statement and simplified dormant accounts every year. A bank charge or an accountant's fee paid from the company ends dormancy and requires full accounts.
The trading and property allowances
Small side incomes are covered by two £1,000 allowances, one for trading and one for property, which remove the need to register or report income below that level. Once income exceeds £1,000, the allowance can be used in place of expenses, a choice worth making deliberately: a freelancer with £900 of costs is better off with the allowance, one with £3,000 is not.
Crypto records and reporting
HMRC treats cryptoassets as property. Swapping one token for another, spending crypto or gifting it are all disposals for Capital Gains Tax, and staking and lending rewards are income. Gains are computed under pooling rules with same-day and 30-day matching. From 2026 HMRC receives data from exchanges worldwide under the Cryptoasset Reporting Framework, so unreported activity is increasingly visible.
Questions
HMRC Investigation Support questions from South Shields
What if I disagree with HMRC's conclusion?
You can request a statutory review by an officer not involved in the case, which overturns or varies around a third of decisions, and you can appeal to the First-tier Tribunal within 30 days. We advise on the merits honestly and handle both routes; the £249 penalty appeal fee covers a review request or appeal against a penalty decision.
Will my previous accountant's errors be held against me?
The law holds you responsible for your return, but relying on a competent adviser and giving them full information is a reasonable excuse for many penalties. We establish what happened and present it to HMRC. If the adviser was negligent you may have a claim against them, which we help you document.
Should I just send HMRC everything they ask for?
No. HMRC is entitled to information reasonably required to check the return, and no more. Requests for private bank statements, several years of records or information about other people are often wider than the law allows. Giving too much lengthens the enquiry and can open new lines. We give HMRC what it is entitled to, promptly and completely.
How long does an enquiry take?
A straightforward aspect enquiry into one item can close in two to three months. A full enquiry into a year's records typically takes six to twelve months, longer if HMRC extends to other years. We keep the process moving by responding within deadlines and pressing HMRC to do the same, and we apply for a closure notice if HMRC stalls.
What is the difference between a compliance check and an investigation?
A compliance check is HMRC's standard term for any review of a return, from a single question to a full examination of a year's records. Most are routine. A Code of Practice 9 investigation is reserved for suspected serious fraud and works very differently, offering immunity from prosecution in return for full disclosure. We tell you which you are facing from the letter.
What does the £299 first stage cover?
Reviewing HMRC's letter and the return or period concerned, assessing what HMRC is likely to be looking at and your exposure, arranging agent authorisation, and preparing and sending the first response within HMRC's deadline. At the end you know where you stand and what the next stage would cost, and you decide whether to proceed.
Do you have an office in South Shields?
No. IGI Accounting is an online-only firm. We serve South Shields 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 South Shields as anywhere else in the country, and why there is nothing to visit and nothing to print.
Is hmrc investigation support in South Shields really the same price as elsewhere?
Yes. The fee published on this page is what a client in South Shields 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.
Let us take the deadlines off your plate in South Shields
Tell us what you need. You get one fixed fee in writing, and nothing is filed until you approve it.