The 2010 trust and estate self-assessment tax return includes a tickbox to indicate the use of the relevant HMRC toolkit in completing the form. HMRC advises that the tickbox is voluntary and only there for statistical purposes. It is not covered by the declaration and therefore is not binding. But for some agents this seemingly innocuous box supports a concern that toolkits will become the benchmark indicator of 'reasonable care' the standard required to avoid penalties under FA2007 Sch 24. Thus there will be increasing pressure on the profession to demonstrate their use as a protection from an enquiry a compliance check or a future discovery.
Paradoxically HMRC has announced the introduction of toolkits as a voluntary means of improving accuracy with the aim of reducing such interventions and the HMRC website does state that they can be used to demonstrate reasonable care. The...
