John Newth provides a laser sharp analysis of tax issues that will be welcomed by many practitioners. It is interesting to see that John repeats advice i heard many years ago concerning the conduct of potentially adversarial meetings with Inspectors and the handling of Inspectors’ notes in tax investigations.
I believe there is an alternative tactic that could prove useful in cases where Inspectors are clearly on a ’search and destroy’ mission. I believe you should record any and all conversations as an MP3 file, and especially where there are contentious matters where the Inspector is behaving in an aggressive manner. That includes client meetings. There is a psychologically sound reason for this. (Trust me on this – I’ve got a psych degree and have been there.)
No-one wants to look ‘bad’ yet the detached nature of a recorded voice can give the impression that a person is more aggressive than may have been the case in the ‘live’ moment. the Ben and Mena show from last year is a case in point. At the same time, the stressed client will almost certainly sound more helpless because there is a natural tendency to please. And which Inspector wants that kind of recording played to a GC meeting?
Taking this position puts you as practitioner in an extremely strong position. Provided you understand the dynamics involved. Here is how I see it. Inspectors will routinely take notes. But they’re not trained as shorthand recorders but they are trained investigators. Therefore what is noted is inevitably a skewed precis of what actually happened. Regardless of who takes notes. I should know, I spent 12 years as a full time hack. And I always had an agenda.
This only works if you understand the psychological dynamics of interrogation and can invest the time with clients to help them get through the ordeal. So what can you do? The first thing to understand is you don’t have to be a trained psychologist. Second, I’d recommend contacting my colleague David Tebbutt. He specialises in media training but the same broad principles apply to these situations. But with a twist. As a hack, you only ask questions to which you already know the answer when investigating difficult issues. When you’re stuck, you ask ‘why?’ Inspectors are not in the same position most of the time though it is always worthwhile giving up minor points which you know will give a sense of victory. There is of course much more to this but I do believe a combination of old fashioned psych plus modern technology can make for a winning combination.
As an aside, the degree to which the psychological impact of the spoken voice carries weight is why the podcast medium is so much more powerful than the words you’ll find on any weblog. And a recorded meeting or telephone call is no more than a podcast for private usage. Listen to the recording I made last year with Philip Woodgate about a product implementation and tell me you’re not impressed.
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