Salary paid to wife

You can write to HMRC and tell them that /you won't be making PAYE & NIC payments because of the level of wages and they'll stop chasing you for returns.

They wouldn't even know there were no separate payments unless they were already investigating you. Normally all they'd see is a modest amount in the husband's box 3.51 (employee costs).

It is necessary however to write to HMRC to claim the rebate. Their automatic system only works by crediting against existing contributions.

Of course the 250 I mentioned applied to the last 2 years. The amount by the way is tax free (ie no Corp tax).

No. They carry out inspections.

Not true

"Peter Saxton" wrote

Part of the "setting up the paye system" could include paying the wife a salary between the LEL and the tax threshold. Or two mates get together and each set up a paye system, and pay each other 400-odd each month. They *will* need to send P14/P35, so they *will* get the rebate, and theefore anybody *can* do this.

"Peter Saxton" wrote

What sort of inspections do they carry out which

The sort that involve inspecting you.

"Peter Saxton" wrote

Why doesn't that involve "investigating you"?

Presumably an inspection is a preliminary, relatively low-key affair ("Lend us a desk, show us your books and bank statements, and I take my coffee black with no sugar") which has one of two outcomes: No further action, or an investigation.

"Ronald Raygun" wrote

If they *do* examine the statement, then they

I think you've answered your own question. You investigate if there is something that seems wrong and needs investigating. An inspection is purely routine with no cause to suspect anything wrong.

From the same horse's mouth:

"INSPECT : verb {T} : to look at something or someone carefully in order to discover information, especially about their quality or condition"

You may like to ponder whether during an inspection, they only "look at" the statement carefully to discover information, as opposed to "examine" it carefully to discover truth. :-)

"Peter Saxton" wrote

I showed that inspection involves some investigation.

"Peter Saxton" wrote

No, they "inspect & investigate" a *little* if they have no cause to suspect anything is wrong, and "inspect & investigate"

"Ronald Raygun" wrote

I respectfully suggest that if they do discover that there weren't any separate payments, that they have *both* "inspected" the bank statement *and* "investigated" the issue...

No. If the inspection results in discovering that there weren't any separate payments, they'll ask some simple probing questions. If they aren't satisfied with the answers, this may lead them to

"Ronald Raygun" wrote

Yes!

"Ronald Raygun" wrote

Aren't they asking those "simple probing questions" in order to "discover the truth"?

"Ronald Raygun" wrote

No, they've *already* "investigated" it by asking those "simple probing questions".

No!

Examine the problem? They don't even know if there is one yet.

No. You might lie. They're asking them in order to see if you can explain why their inspection didn't find what they expected it to find. If you can give a satisfactory answer without looking shifty and seeming evasive, that may be the end of it.

At best you could say they've just *begun* to investigate. But at that point it would be fair to say you ain't seen nothin' yet. Bring a toothbrush and plenty of clean underwear.