4 Eyes Ltd: VAT, Tax and Customs Consultants

VAT Services

VAT compliance and outsourcing

4 Eyes Ltd services include preliminary advice; obtaining any necessary registrations and consents and subsequent fiscal agency. We offer ongoing support and assistance to clients and can also provide outsourced VAT services whereby we will take responsibility for managing all UK VAT affairs, offering clients VAT expertise tailored to their business needs at a reduced cost to in-house provision.

VAT Compliance/Planning

VAT is a transaction based, self-assessed tax. It is essential that a trader considers the VAT implications of any transaction before proceeding. Once transactions have been entered into, the VAT position is effectively set in stone. Mistakes can be impossible or at best difficult and costly to correct.

Often traders are unaware of problems in their VAT compliance and only become aware following a VAT control visit. Typically an assessment for underpaid VAT will follow together with interest and a possible misdeclaration penalty. Unfortunately, a visiting VAT control officer will seldom identify errors in your favour!

Effective planning and the implementation of fully compliant VAT accounting can help to reduce costs and will invariably improve cash-flow.

• The person signing the VAT return must make a written declaration that it is correct.  Can you or other board members/ partners be sure of this? You may be personally liable for an incorrect return.
• The Senior Accounting Officer may have personal responsibility for errors. Are you happy that you have taken all reasonable steps to ensure that your business is VAT compliant?

4 Eyes Ltd can advise you on VAT compliance and planning.  We offer training, VAT reviews and one-off advice on transactions. We can assist in negotiations with HM Revenue & Customs (including making a voluntary disclosure of any error and submitting reclaims for VAT).  We ensure that VAT savings are routinely identified.  Where your business makes exempt supplies, we will advise on the implementation of the most advantageous (and readily workable) partial exemption method.

UK and EU VAT recovery

4 Eyes Ltd has considerable experience in advising clients with multi national operations on the recovery of VAT incurred in the UK and throughout the EU using the EC8th and EC13th Directive refund mechanism.

International network

4 Eyes Ltd is a member of a European VAT network. Our affiliation with this and our other contacts in each jurisdiction enables us to assist with tax issues wherever they arise and will ensure that our clients are always advised by the appropriate national experts in any EU Member State.

Tax agency and Intrastat services

Working together with its EU VAT network, 4 Eyes Ltd provides specialist tax advice services to non-UK based companies trading in the UK and to UK companies trading throughout the EU.

UK fiscal agency and representation

In addition to arranging UK VAT registration and advising on compliance formalities for non UK based companies trading in the UK, 4 Eyes Ltd can act as either UK fiscal agent or fiscal representative, taking responsibility for all UK VAT compliance and negotiations with the HM Revenue & Customs.

Professional assistance and VAT second opinion

4 Eyes Ltd has unrivalled experience in accountancy and legal matters and can offer assistance to professional advisors or a second opinion to that of your established advisors, who may lack expertise in our specialised field.

4 Eyes Ltd is well positioned to assist clients and their advisors with negotiating with HMRC. In the case of HMRC raising assessments to tax, interest and penalties, it is our experience that these may be made without proper consideration of all the issues or even the figures involved.  As such we can analyse the correct position and then negotiate a resolution.

VAT training

4 Eyes Ltd can offer bespoke VAT training to staff to aid compliance, help reduce risk and to routinely identify VAT savings. Depending upon company size, we can help you to access grant funding to offset against our fees.

Finance & Tax Tribunal Support

You won’t always be able to negotiate a satisfactory resolution of a dispute with HM Revenue & Customs and it may be necessary to appeal a prejudicial decision to the Finance & Tax Tribunal. Whereas the taxpayer will often be unrepresented in these proceedings, HM Revenue & Customs will almost always appoint specialist tax counsel to represent them, creating a prejudicial balance in their favour.  4 Eyes Ltd offers a cost effective tribunal service assisting clients with all areas of VAT and duties.

Phillip Henwood is a barrister.  4 Eyes Ltd is also an indirect tax consultant to leading law firms.  Together this enables 4 Eyes Ltd to bring a depth of legal experience and opinion to any matter.

Court reporting

4 Eyes Ltd can provide cost efficient court reporting services whereby we will provide legally trained court clerks to attend public court proceedings and take notes either on behalf of parties to litigation or interested third parties. In addition to providing notes, we will also provide a written or verbal summary of daily proceedings, with expert comment as required.