21/08/2026
I was referred to by a client who owned a takeaway shop.
He had gone over the VAT registration threshold more than two years earlier, but it hadn’t been picked up.
Eventually, he was registered for VAT.
Then I found there was another problem.
The VAT returns hadn’t been filed for the previous periods.
Instead of getting the information together and submitting them, the situation had been left unresolved. HMRC then raised its own assessment.
My client tried to challenge it, but eventually the matter was passed to debt collectors.
They were actually coming to his shop to collect the money.
By the time he came to me, there was a lot to unravel.
I started working through the history, contacting HMRC and getting the outstanding information together.
One of the returns I found was from the very first VAT period.
It had never been filed.
It was now around five years overdue.
There was also another VAT return where the previous accountant had tried to use figures based on HMRC’s original assessment.
I contacted the relevant HMRC agent to try to get the assessment dealt with, but they wouldn’t change their position.
So, at this point, that part of the case is being fought through the courts.
It’s a difficult situation, and it’s a good example of why I don’t see accounting as simply filing returns.
If something isn’t right, it needs to be dealt with.
The longer it sits there, the harder it can become to sort out.
A VAT return that should have been dealt with five years ago is very different from dealing with it when the issue first arises.
My advice is simple:
Don’t ignore a tax or VAT problem because you don’t know what to do with it.
Get someone to look at it early.
It is usually much easier to deal with a problem before HMRC has made its own assessment and debt collection has started.
If you’re worried about your VAT or tax position, send me a DM.
Let's talk.
