A compliance check is where the relevant revenue authority (usually HMRC, see UK1.1) investigates the taxpayer's tax position. The check may be either narrowly or widely focussed. A compliance check is also known as an 'enquiry' as the relevant revenue authority writes to the taxpayer to ask for answers (and evidence supporting the answers) to various specific questions about the tax position.
'Enquiry' is a statutory term that applies to a compliance check into a return and there is a legislative framework that covers the process. For example, to be valid the enquiry must have been opened within the statutory time limit (see EM1501).
A compliance check can be random or targeted, ie the systems of the relevant revenue authority may have selected the return to be checked at random or because
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