Employer compliance check ― role of the agent

The employer may engage an agent or adviser to help handle an HMRC employer compliance check. This guidance note considers that engagement predominantly from the view of the agent.

The agents’ role is usually to ensure that the employer, within the bounds of ethical and legal constraints, is able to obtain as good a deal as possible in resolving any issues that the compliance check identifies.

It is worth remembering that agents have to balance the following, possibly competing, requirements:

• •minimising the cost for their clients in tax, NIC, interest and penalties
• •minimising the cost in professional fees for their clients (which may include ensuring that the terms of any fee insurance scheme are met)
• •applying the relevant legislation and case law
• •acting ethically and in accordance with guidance from their professional bodies
• •maintaining their professional standings with HMRC

Existing agents also need to consider what led to the irregularities identified by HMRC and whether they might have any potential liability for incorrect advice in the past or for failing to identify or advise on a particular area.

Since agents cannot be aware of every action by their employer-clients, the terms of any ongoing engagement, separate from the compliance check work, should be drafted carefully. This is to ensure that the agent has not assumed liability for advising the employer on the employment taxes aspects of every act or omission of the employer, since the agent is most unlikely to be aware of these.