HMRC has its sights firmly set on the two million small businesses that it believes are failing to keep adequate records.

Around 1,200 SMEs are being targeted from July in what HMRC describes as a 'test and learn' trial before launching a programme aimed at checking the records of 200,000 small businesses over the next four years.

New businesses are more likely to be targeted than established ones.

Tax officials are being armed with powers to impose fines of up to £3,000 on the worst record keepers and HMRC aims to raise an extra £600m for the Exchequer in unpaid taxes and fines.

Until now, HMRC has only reviewed the tax affairs of a business if it thinks the business could be paying too little tax. This is the first time inspectors will be looking at records for the current year.

The sort of records a business needs to keep depends upon the type of tax they have to pay and is described in a helpful guide here.

Martin Pollins, Managing Director of Bizezia said:"Firms have an opportunity and a responsibility to help their clients maintain adequate records. The offer of an overview of current records, possibly followed up with additional book-keeping and payroll support will save clients from the worse ravages of HMRC's zeal."

Bizezia, a provider of high quality, unique website marketing apps and practice management tools, has created a new publication in its Online Business Library: "HMRC requirements on keeping business records", which you can request for FREE by registering on the Bizezia site.

The publication will help you explain to clients the records they must keep and will provide useful content for newsletters and marketing campaigns.

To receive your FREE Business records publication, register on the Bizezia website, click on the "My Bizezia" tab and you will find the publication in the free resources.

Registering on the Bizezia website is free and without any obligation. It will give you access to a range of tools to help you create the kind of offer that will attract large numbers of qualified prospects to your firm.

Notes:

• Bizezia provides high quality, unique website marketing apps and practice management tools. Bizezia's products are designed to make business easier, encourage people to to visit your website and to keep them coming back.
   
• The Bizezia Contract Engine contains over 200 fully-editable client care letter templates together with market-leading terms and conditions.
   
• Bizezia's EziaNews is an ideal example of how to keep your website current and informative. It's a daily round-up of business news that can be placed on to your website with no effort on your part and gives your clients, prospects and staff instant access to the latest business news. 
   
• Bizezia can trace its roots back to 1986, at a time when accountants were beginning to develop innovative marketing strategies for the first time. Then, with the launch of the Internet, Martin Pollins, founder of Bizezia, saw a new business opportunity to provide marketing and administrative products specifically for professionals serving SMEs, which would be available on their own websites with the aim of attracting potential clients and improving the level of service to existing clients. 
   
• Martin Pollins, chairman and founder of Bizezia, is a Chartered Accountant with wide experience in corporate finance and business management. He ran his own accountancy firm in Sussex and was the first accountancy firm in the UK to advertise on television. Martin went on to create and launch the CharterGroup Partnership (the UK's first accountancy network) and then LawGroup UK, one of the largest networks of lawyers in the country. He also served on the ICAEW Council for several years. 
   
• Operations director, Iman Rouane, is an honours journalism graduate, who has worked on a number of magazines, including Marie Claire and BBC Eve and was also a freelance newsreader for several radio stations across the south east. She joined Bizezia in 2005.