A pilot programme of Business Records Checks (BRC) began in April 2011. This involved checks by HMRC on the adequacy of Small and Medium-sized Enterprises’ (SMEs) statutory business records. SMEs are businesses with an annual turnover below £30 million who employ less than 250 people.
Up until 17 February 2012, 3,431 BRC had been carried out. These found that 36 per cent of businesses had some issue with their record-keeping of which 10 per cent had issues serious enough to warrant a follow up visit.
HMRC will be sending out letters this month to businesses that it believes may be at risk of keeping inadequate records, advising them that it will be in touch by phone. The call will take businesses through a set of questions designed to assess their record keeping affairs.
The BRC programme will be rolled-out, region-by-region, over the following 14-week period;
- London & East Anglia – 26 November 2012
- South East England – 14 January 2013
- Scotland – 14 January 2013
- Northern Ireland – 14 January 2013
- Central England – 21 January 2013
- East of England – 28 January 2013
- North Wales & the North West of England – 28 January 2013
- South Wales & the South West of England – 4 February 2013
You can read the full HMRC report by clicking on this link http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/businessrecordscheck/review.pdf
Further information at http://www.accountingweb.co.uk/article/hmrc-re-launches-business-records-checks/533378
steve@bicknells.net
