I would say that you are taking a chance that a difficult tax/vat inspector will say no. It needs to be put in context of all the records, are the notes made at the time, signed and possibly witnessed. A till with a Z reading would help, but a recent case involving a restaurant concluded that these notes can be enough.
Tax is a simple system, you are guilty until you prove yourself innocent, so the more evidence, especially regarding cash transactions, the better.
Many years ago (mid 90's) I had one inspector who was trying it on a bit and used the tactics of saying "Of course, you are fully entitled to disagree with my findings but if you do then we will chase you for penalties, interest and surcharges as well" which he assured me would turn the £3000 that he had calculated (incorrectly!) into a £15,000 debt!
Needless to say I didn't end up paying either amount as I was the one in the right (and had all the written evidence to prove such) but I can see those with less knowledge capitulating rather than risk being chased for a huge debt that they really don't owe, but cannot prove that they didn't owe the orriginal amount so end up sponsoring the HMRC xmas party.
Where this links particularly well to this thread is in that one can never have enough evidence for every sale and every purchase. If my records had not been so squeaky clean and watertight with everything cross referenced to bank statements then I wouldn't have had a leg to stand on. (or pot to you know what in had they won).
All the best,
Shaun.
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Shaun
Responses are not meant as a substitute for professional advice. Answers are intended as outline only the advice of a qualified professional with access to all relevant information should be sought before acting on any response given.
How do you prove that it's the customer that signed it!
Sales have to be related back to stock proven by a stocktake and income must be tallied to the bank statements. If a flow from stock thrrough to income can be shown then that should be sufficient appropriate evidence that the clients documentation was correct.
The stocktake would need to be performed / verified by an independant accountant as you are too close to the client so your independance may be in question.
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Shaun
Responses are not meant as a substitute for professional advice. Answers are intended as outline only the advice of a qualified professional with access to all relevant information should be sought before acting on any response given.
The VAT office will look at the purchases and work out if the sales figures are realistic on this amount. Its worth keeping a record of the charges, in case of dispute , as if they charge say £2.50 for a pint, and they purchased 100 pints, then the HMRC would expect the sales to be about £2,500 subject to a small "wastage". If the sales are only £1,250 they understandably would think the sales are being under declared.
