Douglas Seaton
A technical Inspector with the Inland Revenue for some 24 years (employed there 34 years), Douglas is one of the leading specialists in the "what constitutes employed v self employed" argument and wrote and presented several training and informative courses on the subject. He covers every area where the subject is raised, from Construction Industry to Farming Industry. For many years he was also Inland Revenue Scotland's only specialist in the taxation of payments on the termination of employment, again writing and presenting several courses on the subject. Having taken early retirement four years ago, Douglas is now an independent tax consultant who offers an insight into how HMRC think and can respond in that effective and efficient manner to ensure that; • Only information and documents to which HMRC is legally entitled to are provided. • The HMRC officer works to current legislation and, more importantly, to the strict guidelines laid down by HMRC itself. • HMRC actually demonstrate that there is a risk of tax and National Insurance being lost. Douglas can also advise on several other issues such as Penalties, Construction Industry, Gross Payment Status, Technical issues, Error or Mistake relief and the Complaints procedures. Since leaving HMRV he has won several appeals against the withdrawal of contractors' gross payment status; in fact he hasn't lost one yet. He has also won several cases where HMRC were intent on changing a contractor's
workforce from self employed to employed, again, he haven't lost a technical argument yet. On a more general level he uses his experience and expertise to assist clients in all matters relating to Pay As You Earn from P11D to Full Enquiry.
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