Finance Act, 1988
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Inspector's right to make enquiries and amend assessments. |
15.—(1) For the purpose of making an assessment on a chargeable person for a relevant chargeable period or for the purpose of amending such an assessment, the inspector may accept either in whole or in part any statement or other particular contained in a return delivered by the chargeable person for that chargeable period and he may assess any amount of income, profits or gains or allow any deduction, allowance or relief by reference to such statement or particular; but the making of an assessment or the amendment of an assessment by reference to any such statement or particular contained in the chargeable person's return shall not preclude the inspector from making such enquiries or taking such actions, within his powers, as he considers necessary to satisfy himself as to the accuracy or otherwise of that statement or particular and, subject to section 14 (2), shall not preclude the inspector from amending or further amending an assessment in such manner as he considers appropriate: | |
Provided that any such enquiries and any such actions shall not be made in the case of any chargeable person for any relevant chargeable period at any time after the expiry of the period of 6 years commencing at the end of the chargeable period in which the chargeable person has delivered a return for the relevant chargeable period unless at that time the inspector has reasonable grounds for believing that the return is insufficient due to its having been completed in a fraudulent or negligent manner. | ||
(2) A chargeable person who is aggrieved by any enquiry made or action taken by an inspector for a chargeable period, after the expiry of the period referred to in the proviso to subsection (1) in respect of that chargeable period, on the grounds that he considers that the inspector is precluded from making that enquiry or taking that action by reason of the proviso to subsection (1) may, by notice in writing given to the inspector within 30 days of the inspector making that enquiry or taking that action, appeal to the Appeal Commissioners and the Appeal Commissioners shall hear the appeal in all respects as if it were an appeal against an assessment. Any action required to be taken by the chargeable person and any further action proposed to be taken by the inspector pursuant to the inspector's enquiry or action shall be suspended pending the determination of the appeal. If on the hearing of the appeal the Appeal Commissioners determine that the inspector was so precluded, the chargeable person shall not be required to take any action pursuant to the inspector's enquiry or action and the inspector shall be prohibited from pursuing his enquiry or action. If the Appeal Commissioners decide that he was not so precluded, it shall be lawful for the inspector to continue with his enquiry or action. |