A senior tax expert has put a spotlight on HMRC's increasing challenge of the accounting policies of listed companies. Heather Self, a partner at Pinsent Masons, has highlighted a trend that an increasing amount of tax under HMRC investigation relates to accounting standard breaches (see comment, page 33). 'It seems that HMRC is becoming more confident in its own accounting expertise, even questioning the commercial judgment of major companies on some occasions,' says Self. 'If so, it may well find that the response is a robust one - in the case of a listed company, HMRC is essentially saying that the public has been misled. Listed companies and their auditors take the issue of accounting standards very seriously and will be surprised at HMRC challenges in this area.'
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