Nudge letter, compliance check or formal enquiry: a Chartered Accountant/Chartered Tax Advisor reviews your position, drafts the response and deals with HMRC as your agent. You see a fixed quote before any work starts.
HMRC cross-checks Land Registry records against tax returns, so property letters are rarely random. The good news: the right response, with the right disclosure if one is needed, usually settles it. The trick is getting that first reply right.
What you say in the opening response shapes the scope, the timeline and often the penalty position for everything that follows. A rushed reply is hard to walk back.
Every letter carries a reply-by date. Extensions are possible but never guaranteed, and silence makes HMRC assume the worst. The clock starts the day the letter is dated.
Penalties are a percentage of the tax, set by behaviour. A careless error is treated far more lightly than a deliberate one, and disclosing before HMRC asks earns a lower band than being caught.
A short call with a Chartered Accountant/Chartered Tax Advisor before the reply-by date on your letter. Bring the letter and your sale paperwork.
Before the deadlineWe read the letter, explain what HMRC actually knows and wants, and quote a fixed fee for handling it. You know the price before any work starts.
Fixed quoteYou send us the paperwork. We check your true position, the gain or loss, the reliefs, what (if anything) is owed, and agree the response with you before it goes out.
Agreed with youAs your authorised agent we correspond with HMRC until the matter is closed: drafting replies, supplying computations, handling any disclosure and pushing back where HMRC has it wrong.
Until it is closedDo not sit on the letter, and do not reply in a hurry. Note the deadline, gather your sale paperwork (completion statement, purchase records, any return you filed), and get the position checked before you respond.
One scoping call, then a fixed quote. From there a Chartered Accountant/Chartered Tax Advisor takes the matter off your desk and handles it end to end. Not every letter means tax is due, and we will tell you straight if HMRC has it wrong.
Four ways to handle an HMRC letter about a property. Only one puts a chartered adviser between you and HMRC, with the price agreed before any work starts.
| Ignore it | Reply yourself | Generic accountant | LetsFile | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Reads the letter and quotes first | ✗ | n/a | Sometimes | ✓ |
| Chartered Accountant/Tax Advisor sign-off | ✗ | ✗ | If qualified | ✓ |
| Deals with HMRC as your agent | ✗ | ✗ | Maybe | ✓ |
| Handles a disclosure on best terms | ✗ | Unlikely | Maybe | ✓ |
| Property and CGT specific | n/a | n/a | Varies | ✓ |
| Fixed quote, no surprise bills | n/a | n/a | Often hourly | ✓ |
| Risk if it goes wrong | Penalties stack | Wrong first reply | Varies | Managed |
Ignoring the letter lets penalties stack and makes HMRC assume the worst. Replying yourself risks getting the all-important first reply wrong. A chartered adviser who knows property and CGT, working from a fixed quote, is what this service is for.
A Chartered Accountant/Chartered Tax Advisor reviews your position and signs the response.
We deal with HMRC on your behalf, so you do not have to write to them yourself.
Your letter and documents are encrypted in transit and at rest.
UK/EU-hosted. We only ask for what handling the enquiry needs.
Don't sit on the letter
Book a scoping call
A short call with a Chartered Accountant/Chartered Tax Advisor. Bring the letter; leave knowing what it means and what it will cost to handle. The fee is a fixed quote, agreed before any work starts.
Book the call →Filed with our Reviewed service? 90 days of enquiry support is already included.
It depends on the letter. Many are nudge letters: HMRC matches Land Registry records against tax returns and writes to people where it cannot see a CGT return. Others open a formal compliance check. Either way it has a reply-by date and ignoring it makes things worse. The right response, with the right disclosure if one is needed, usually settles it.
Do not reply in a hurry and do not ignore it. Note the deadline on the letter, gather your sale paperwork (completion statement, purchase records, any return you filed), and get the position checked before you respond. What you say in the first reply shapes everything after it.
We quote a fixed fee after a short scoping call, based on what the letter is and what your position looks like. You know the price before any work starts. If you filed your return through our Reviewed service, 90 days of HMRC enquiry support is already included.
Then the goal is to put it right on the best available terms. Penalties scale with behaviour and with how the error came to light: telling HMRC before they ask is treated better than being caught. We work out the actual liability, handle the disclosure, and make the case for the lowest penalty band that honestly fits.
Yes. As your authorised agent we correspond with HMRC on your behalf: drafting responses, providing the computations, and pushing back where HMRC has it wrong. You stay informed without writing to HMRC yourself.
It happens: a sale of your own home covered by Private Residence Relief, a property that was inherited at probate value, a disposal that made a loss. We set out the facts and the law in the reply and close the enquiry down. Not every letter means tax is due.
Property transactions leave a paper trail HMRC reads routinely: Land Registry records, Stamp Duty returns from the buyer, and letting and deposit data for rental properties. When that trail does not match a tax return, letters follow. It is rarely random.
Anything from one exchange of letters to many months for a full compliance check. The biggest factor you control is the quality and completeness of the responses: clear computations with evidence, delivered on time, close enquiries faster than drip-fed half answers.
Penalties are a percentage of the tax, set by behaviour: a careless error is treated far more lightly than a deliberate one, and telling HMRC before they ask earns a lower band than being caught. That is why how the matter is presented genuinely changes the outcome, and why the first reply should not be rushed.
This page describes the service in general terms and is not tax advice. If your letter sets a deadline, act before it: extensions are possible but never guaranteed.
Common reasons HMRC writes, and the returns that usually settle the matter.
A late or missing property CGT return is the most common trigger. Our Reviewed service files it.
Rental income and gains often belong on your annual return, not just the 60-day one.
Non-residents must report a UK property sale within 60 days. Settle your residence first.
A wider chat about your property position with a Chartered Accountant/Chartered Tax Advisor.
Bring the letter to a 15-minute scoping call. You leave knowing what it means, what it will cost to handle, and that someone qualified is now dealing with HMRC for you.
Book a scoping call →Fixed quote first · we deal with HMRC as your agent · up against the deadline? request an urgent callback