In K Hunter v HMRC [2019] UKFTT 312 (14 May 2019) the FTT found that a discovery assessment was valid and that HMRC had been entitled to obtain information on a voluntary basis as part of an investigation.
HMRC had received information from the police suggesting that Mr Hunter had diverted (and retained) confidential cash payments from his company Risc Management. HMRC wrote to Mr Hunter in February 2015 informing him that it was opening an investigation.
Following the investigation HMRC considered that two sums credited to Mr Hunter’s bank account represented undeclared income and issued a discovery assessment. The issue was whether the discovery assessment was valid.
The first question was whether the discovery assessment was stale given that the insufficiency of tax had been discovered long before the assessment was issued. The tribunal accepted that the relevant HMRC officer did not believe that he had discovered a...
