Tax Investigation Helpline

How Wrong VAT Treatment Happens

Accountants often make mistakes when interpreting VAT rules. Typical errors include:

• Treating standard-rated supplies as zero-rated or exempt.
• Failing to account for VAT on international sales or imports.
• Incorrectly applying the Flat Rate Scheme.
• Misunderstanding partial exemption rules.
• Over-claiming input tax on expenses.

These errors can remain hidden for years, only coming to light during an HMRC inspection — at which point the client, not the accountant, is left facing the fallout.

What’s at Risk When VAT is treated incorrectly, the financial impact can be severe:

• Backdated VAT liabilities, sometimes going back four years or more.
• Interest and penalties, which increase the amount owed. >Loss of VAT refunds, creating cashflow strain.
• Disruption from HMRC enquiries, which can expand into other areas of tax.
• Damage to your reputation, as HMRC may suspect deliberate wrongdoing.

For many businesses, these unexpected demands can threaten their very survival.

How We Help

At Tax Investigation Helpline, we specialise in supporting clients who have suffered from wrong VAT treatment due to bad accountancy advice. We provide:

• Independent assessment: We review your VAT treatment and identify where errors have been made.

• HMRC representation: We take over all communication with HMRC, protecting you from unnecessary stress and risk.
• Correction of records: We ensure your VAT filings are amended and compliant going forward.
• Negotiation: Where liabilities exist, we work to reduce penalties and agree manageable settlements.
• Accountability: Where your accountant’s negligence has caused the problem, we help you hold them responsible.

Our focus is always on minimising financial damage and ensuring you are treated fairly.

Common Issues We See From our experience, some of the most frequent wrong VAT treatments include:

• Food and drink items wrongly zero-rated.
• Property transactions treated incorrectly.
• International services misclassified for VAT purposes.
• Flat Rate Scheme applied to ineligible businesses.
• Businesses reclaiming VAT on expenses that don’t qualify.

We’ve seen these scenarios many times — and we know exactly how HMRC responds.

Don’t Let Wrong VAT Treatment Destroy Your Business If your accountant has given you bad advice on VAT treatment, you may feel angry and frustrated, especially if HMRC is now demanding money from you. But you don’t have to deal with it alone.

We’ve helped many businesses correct mistakes, reduce penalties, and pursue negligent accountants for the harm they’ve caused. With our support, you can move forward with confidence.