Firms on HMRC's Time to Pay approval panel revealed

The taxman has revealed the 13 firms approved to ascertain whether businesses will be able to pay back their deferred tax bill.

Firms have been approved by HMRC to provide Independent Business Reviews (IBR) for large companies seeking time-to-pay (TTP) arrangements.

The former government announced in its March 2010 budget that all businesses seeking a TTP of £1m or more would need to pay an insolvency practitioner for a review.

The review would seek to adjudge the ability of the company to eventually pay back any tax deferred by HMRC.

Following a consultation, which took place in January this year, HMRC approved a panel of firms to conduct those reviews.

The panel list consists of: Baker Tilly; BDO; Begbies Traynor; Deloitte; Ernst & Young; Grant Thornton; KPMG; Mazars; Moore Stephens; PKF; PwC; RSM Tenon; Smith & Williamson.

A statement from HMRC said the outsourced process was subject to regular six month reviews and inclusion was not "permanent", but non-selection of a firm would not rule them out in future.

The next review is due to take place in Autumn this year.

Further reading:

HMRC imposes tougher rules on Time To Pay

Insolvency practitioners to receive £11m boost from new tax rules

Budget 2010: Warning as Time to Pay scheme is extended