Personal accountability

Senior accounting officers (SAOs) of qualifying large companies will shortly be required to provide personal certification that their accounting systems are capable of delivering accurate tax reporting. The SAO will face a potential £10,000 fine for non-compliance and in addition the company can be charged £5,000 for failure to notify HMRC of its SAOs identity.

This shift from business to personal liability is a hugely significant change and something that cannot be avoided if your company is deemed as qualifying by meeting either of the following criteria:

• UK turnover in excess of £200m.
• Gross assets in excess of £2bn.

BDO has been heavily involved in advising HRMC on the drafting of the guidelines which are due to be made publicly available by the end of July. To help you understand these important changes and how they will affect you, watch the live webchat our experts Tony Spillett and Ed Dwan held on Wednesday 15th July.

They discuss the implications of this draft legislation, how we can help companies correctly identify their SAO, explain the new rules and responsibilities and help put the SAO safely in a position to sign the annual certificate.

Reactions to the new legislation from large corporates and advisers have varied significantly. Our approach is to help clients (senior accounting officers, heads of tax and other key individuals) to understand the purpose of the legislation, identify their priorities and the work required to be able to sign a “clean” certificate. We recognise that many clients will be unwilling to incur substantial fees in this area and we therefore focus on “how to do enough”.

View the webchat

For more information please contact Tony Spillett, Tax Partner or contact your local BDO adviser.