Depending on the scheme or policy coverage and exclusions, all or most of your professional fees and expenses are recoverable on successful claims, thereby allowing the practice to react to HMRC unhindered by potential liabilities due to client affordability or willingness to pay additional costs associated with defending them from such events.

 

 

 

 

Other than the obvious financial protection of having their own accountant deal with their tax affairs, a TFPI scheme provides security against unplanned and unwanted additional costs when a HMRC Enquiry or Dispute event occurs. The additional value-added services that some insurers provide such as HR, H&S or Legal Helplines also add real value to the clients as well, further securing their business with your practice.

 

 

 

 

Having the ability to protect the client from HMRC at a fixed annual cost (or building the TFPI cost within the annual client fee structure) helps the client / practice relationship to remain healthy without the extra stress of additional billing.

 

 

 

 

Having the ability to protect the client from HMRC at a fixed annual cost (or building the TFPI cost within the annual client fee structure) helps the client / practice relationship to remain healthy without the extra stress of additional billing. 

 

 

 

TFPI scheme providers often have Tax and VAT helplines connected to the scheme, which can be a substantial addition to expertise for smaller practices and also add value / second opinion for others. Some TFPI providers have extended services into Payroll and other specialised areas such as IR35, CIS, R&D Claims, Capex and so on – but be aware that many of the higher end more complex services may not be “all inclusive” within the standard premium / fee, and may incur additional costs when these areas of expertise are used. Another point to consider is the actual technical value of the helpline.  The same applies to the various HR, Employment Law, Business Law and Health & Safety helplines that sometimes accompany a TFPI scheme membership.

 

 

 

 

There can be a very generous mark-up made on the scheme / insurance when on-selling it to clients, whether it be on a compulsory or client decide basis. Careful consideration should be made when calculating IPT and / or VAT dependent on the scheme format and FCA regulation type. However, access to having the cover or service in place should not be hindered by profit margin as the client also has the opportunity to buy such cover directly from the insurer.

 

 

 

 

Most professional accountancy bodies recommend that practices have a TFPI scheme in place, or at least avail their clients the opportunity of having a scheme or cover in place, directly or indirectly through the practice. Having a TFPI scheme or a client referral mechanism in place therefore aids the practice to be compliant when being reviewed by such governing or regulatory bodies.