HMRC would launch an investigation in to your business. They would devote enough resources to make sure that you and your accountant were sufficiently overwhelmed. Most business owners can't afford the time and £'s it takes to defend such an attack, and will most likely pony up the cash.
Ninja edit: Most accountants in the UK offer up an insurance that covers your accountants fees if you are investigated by HMRC. It's about £120 per year for the insurance and in my opinion a very sensible form of protection. HMRC don't always need a reason to investigate, some "high risk" businesses are selected randomly.
They would devote enough resources to make sure that you and your accountant were sufficiently overwhelmed.
Is this strategy not extortion?
For freelance earnings, I've been offered similar accountancy insurance as well. I was told that if I was investigated (not because I'd done anything wrong, just from random selection) it could cost several thousand to pay an accountant to do the work an audit would require. This always struck me as a broken system.
I was about to reply after your first comment that this is why small business accountants are always pushing their insurance on you, but your ninja edit got there first.
Comments
Genuine question: what would happen if my small UK company didn't pay its corporation tax?
HMRC would launch an investigation in to your business. They would devote enough resources to make sure that you and your accountant were sufficiently overwhelmed. Most business owners can't afford the time and £'s it takes to defend such an attack, and will most likely pony up the cash.
Ninja edit: Most accountants in the UK offer up an insurance that covers your accountants fees if you are investigated by HMRC. It's about £120 per year for the insurance and in my opinion a very sensible form of protection. HMRC don't always need a reason to investigate, some "high risk" businesses are selected randomly.
Is this strategy not extortion?
For freelance earnings, I've been offered similar accountancy insurance as well. I was told that if I was investigated (not because I'd done anything wrong, just from random selection) it could cost several thousand to pay an accountant to do the work an audit would require. This always struck me as a broken system.
I was about to reply after your first comment that this is why small business accountants are always pushing their insurance on you, but your ninja edit got there first.
You'd be fined, sat on with a ton of bricks and spend thousands on accountants' fees as they decided to 'investigate' you.
Asked and answered in this recent BBC iPlayer video, "The Town That Took On The Taxman": http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b06ygl19/the-town-that-...
Didn't pay, or ran its affairs so as not to perhaps not be liable? Big difference there...