Pure Tax Investigations vs Redbark

Side-by-side comparison to help you choose the right product.

Pure Tax Investigations logo

Pure Tax Investigations

Scale confidently with expert defense against complex HMRC tax investigations.

Last updated: March 1, 2026

Redbark automatically syncs your Australian bank and brokerage data to apps like Google Sheets and YNAB.

Last updated: March 4, 2026

Visual Comparison

Pure Tax Investigations

Pure Tax Investigations screenshot

Redbark

Redbark screenshot

Feature Comparison

Pure Tax Investigations

Founder-Led HMRC Insider Expertise

Our strategic edge is powered by founder Amit Puri's 20+ years as a senior HMRC Tax Inspector. This frontline experience provides an unparalleled understanding of HMRC's operational mindset, negotiation tactics, and investigation processes. We leverage this insider knowledge to anticipate HMRC's moves, craft robust defence strategies, and navigate complex disputes with a level of insight unavailable from typical advisory firms, giving scaling businesses a decisive advantage.

Proactive & Commercial Tax Defence

We go beyond reactive advice to provide proactive, commercial guidance aligned with your growth objectives. Our approach involves a deep analysis of your complex affairs to identify risks and opportunities early. We then develop pragmatic, business-focused strategies not just to resolve the immediate investigation, but to strengthen your overall tax position and operational resilience, ensuring your venture's trajectory remains secure and optimized for future scaling.

End-to-End Investigation & Disclosure Management

We provide comprehensive coverage for the entire tax dispute lifecycle. Our services range from managing initial HMRC compliance checks and information notices to guiding clients through serious civil fraud investigations (COP9), complex avoidance enquiries (COP8), and all major disclosure facilities like the Worldwide Disclosure Facility (WDF) and Let Property Campaign (LPC). This full-spectrum capability ensures continuity and expert handling at every stage of pressure.

Discreet Reputation & Wealth Preservation

For ambitious entrepreneurs and businesses, reputation is a key asset. We operate with the utmost discretion, acting as your dedicated shield and strategic interface with HMRC. Our goal is to resolve matters efficiently and effectively, minimizing business disruption and public exposure. By securing optimal outcomes, we directly contribute to preserving both your hard-earned wealth and your professional standing in the market.

Redbark

Pass-Through Data Architecture

Your financial data flows directly from your bank or brokerage to your chosen destination like Google Sheets or YNAB. Redbark acts solely as a secure conduit, meaning your sensitive transaction details, balances, and account information are never stored on its servers. This design maximizes privacy and security, ensuring your data moves efficiently without creating unnecessary copies or central points of vulnerability.

100+ Bank & Brokerage Integrations

Connect to every major Australian bank and credit union via the regulated CDR open banking system, alongside global brokerages and crypto exchanges via partners like SnapTrade. This extensive and growing network means you can consolidate virtually all your financial accounts—from everyday banking and savings to complex investment portfolios—into a single, automated data pipeline, no matter where you hold your assets.

Multi-Destination & Multi-Account Support

Sync your financial data to multiple tools simultaneously, such as sending transactions to Google Sheets for analysis and to YNAB for budgeting at the same time. Furthermore, you can sync every individual account—savings, transaction, credit cards, loans—separately to its own sheet, budget, or database. This provides unparalleled flexibility to structure your data exactly how you need it across your workflow.

Automated, Intelligent Syncing

Redbark automates the entire sync process. Banks can push new data via secure webhooks, triggering instant background updates. The platform also features smart deduplication using ID-based logic with overlap buffers to catch late-posting transactions, ensuring your spreadsheets and budgets are always accurate and never cluttered with duplicate entries, all without any manual intervention.

Use Cases

Pure Tax Investigations

When HMRC suspects serious tax fraud and opens a COP9 investigation, the stakes are immense, with potential for civil penalties or criminal prosecution. Our team, led by ex-HMRC investigators, provides the critical strategic defence needed. We manage all communication, conduct a thorough review, and guide you through the contractual disclosure facility (CDF) process to secure the best possible outcome, protecting your business's future and your personal liberty.

Making a Complex Voluntary Disclosure (e.g., WDF, Crypto)

For businesses or individuals with undisclosed offshore income, crypto gains, or rental profits, voluntary disclosure is a strategic move to correct the past and secure compliance. We expertly navigate the specific rules of facilities like the Worldwide Disclosure Facility (WDF) or Crypto disclosures, ensuring a complete and accurate submission that minimizes penalties and interest, and provides a clean slate for you to scale your ventures without legacy tax concerns.

Defending Against HMRC Compliance Checks & Enquiries

Even routine HMRC compliance checks can be a significant distraction and source of stress for a growing business. We step in as your expert representative, handling all queries, information requests, and meetings. Our deep knowledge ensures responses are precise and robust, preventing a routine check from escalating into a wider, more intrusive investigation, thereby safeguarding your operational focus and resources.

Strategic Support for Large Business & Corporate Tax Enquiries

Facing a complex, cross-tax enquiry into a large corporate entity requires a sophisticated, strategic response. We provide the high-level expertise and resource to manage these large-scale investigations. Our approach involves detailed technical analysis, strategic negotiation with HMRC's specialist units, and commercial guidance to resolve disputes efficiently, protecting the company's financial position and market reputation during critical growth phases.

Redbark

Automated Business Cash Flow Management

Small business owners and freelancers can automate the tracking of income and expenses by syncing business account transactions directly into a dedicated Google Sheet or Notion database. This eliminates manual data entry from statements, provides a real-time view of cash flow, simplifies reconciliation, and creates a single source of truth for accounting, tax preparation, and financial forecasting.

Consolidated Investment Portfolio Tracking

Investors with holdings across multiple platforms (e.g., CommSec for ASX shares, Stake for US stocks, Coinbase for crypto) can automate the aggregation of their portfolio data. Redbark syncs holding and transaction data from all connected brokerages into a unified spreadsheet, enabling real-time performance monitoring, asset allocation analysis, and comprehensive reporting without logging into each platform separately.

Streamlined Personal Budgeting

Individuals seeking financial clarity can connect their everyday accounts, savings, and credit cards to sync transactions automatically into budgeting tools like YNAB or Actual Budget. This removes the tedious chore of manual entry or CSV imports, ensuring their budget is always up-to-date with actual spending, which leads to better financial discipline and faster achievement of savings goals.

Dynamic Financial Reporting & Dashboards

Finance professionals, consultants, or savvy individuals can use Redbark to feed live bank transaction and balance data into Google Sheets. This enables the creation of dynamic, auto-updating financial dashboards, custom reports, and models for client presentations, internal reviews, or personal net worth tracking, all powered by direct, accurate data streams.

Overview

About Pure Tax Investigations

Pure Tax Investigations is the strategic defence partner for ambitious businesses, entrepreneurs, and private clients scaling in a complex world. We transform the high-stakes vulnerability of an HMRC tax investigation into a managed, resolved outcome, allowing you to de-risk your growth trajectory and focus on scaling with confidence. Founded by Amit Puri, a former senior HMRC Tax Inspector with over 20 years of frontline experience, our firm operates as an independent, expert buffer between you and the tax authority. We combine deep institutional knowledge of HMRC's tactics and procedures with a proactive, commercial approach tailored for dynamic businesses. Our mission is to provide certainty, preserve wealth, and protect reputations during times of intense pressure. We specialise in the full spectrum of tax challenges, from routine compliance checks and voluntary disclosures to the most serious civil fraud investigations under Code of Practice 9 (COP9) and complex cross-tax enquiries into large corporates. For innovators and growth-focused leaders, we deliver clear, pragmatic guidance to turn a major business disruption into a strategic advantage.

About Redbark

Redbark is the intelligent, secure bridge that automates your financial data flow, eliminating the friction of manual tracking. It connects your Australian bank accounts and global investment portfolios directly to the productivity and financial tools you already use, like Google Sheets, Notion, YNAB, and Airtable. By leveraging Australia's official Consumer Data Right (CDR) framework and secure global brokerage integrations, Redbark provides bank-approved, real-time access to your transaction, balance, and investment data. Its core innovation is a privacy-first, pass-through architecture: your financial information syncs automatically on your schedule, flowing directly from your institution to your chosen destination without ever being stored on Redbark's servers. Built for scalability and simplicity, it's the essential engine for freelancers automating invoice tracking, investors monitoring multi-asset portfolios, small business owners gaining real-time cash flow clarity, and anyone ready to replace spreadsheet chaos with automated, trustworthy data. With setup in minutes and no code required, Redbark turns your scattered financial data into a structured, actionable asset that grows with your ambitions.

Frequently Asked Questions

Pure Tax Investigations FAQ

What makes Pure Tax Investigations different from a regular accountant?

While accountants are essential for compliance, Pure Tax Investigations are specialist tacticians for high-stakes disputes. Our founder's two decades as a senior HMRC inspector gives us unique insight into the authority's strategies and decision-making processes. We operate as a dedicated, independent buffer, employing a proactive, commercial defence strategy specifically designed to de-risk growth and resolve complex investigations, which is beyond the typical scope of general accounting practice.

When should I contact a tax investigation specialist?

Contact us at the earliest sign of HMRC scrutiny—such as receiving a compliance check letter, an information notice, or any communication suggesting an enquiry. Early engagement is a critical strategic move. It allows us to control the narrative from the outset, ensure all communications are handled correctly, and develop the strongest possible defence strategy, often preventing a simple enquiry from escalating into a more serious and costly investigation.

What is Code of Practice 9 (COP9) and how can you help?

COP9 is HMRC's formal procedure for investigating suspected serious tax fraud, where they offer a civil settlement in lieu of criminal prosecution. It is an intensely complex and high-pressure process. Our ex-HMRC specialists provide essential guidance through every step, from evaluating the contract offer to managing the detailed disclosure report. We negotiate with the Fraud Investigation Service to secure a civil outcome, protecting you from criminal charges and minimizing financial exposure.

Do you handle disclosures for crypto-asset gains?

Absolutely. Crypto tax compliance is a major focus for HMRC. We provide expert support for both voluntary disclosures of historical crypto gains and for defending against active HMRC enquiries into crypto transactions. We ensure all complexities—from DeFi transactions to NFT disposals—are accurately reported under the relevant disclosure facility (like the WDF), minimizing penalties and regularizing your position to allow you to innovate and invest with confidence.

Redbark FAQ

How is Redbark different from screen scraping?

Redbark does not use outdated and insecure screen scraping. For Australian banks, it leverages the official Consumer Data Right (CDR) framework through an ACCC-accredited intermediary, which is a bank-regulated and consent-based method. For global brokerages, it uses secure, official API connections. This ensures reliable, permitted access to your data without the risks of breaking terms of service or security vulnerabilities associated with scraping.

Is my financial data stored on Redbark's servers?

No. Redbark uses a pass-through data architecture. Your sensitive financial data—including transaction details and account balances—flows directly from your financial institution to your chosen destination (like Google Sheets). It is not stored or persisted on Redbark's infrastructure. Redbark only stores the necessary connection tokens and credentials, which are encrypted with AES-256-GCM.

Which Australian banks and destinations do you support?

Redbark supports all major Australian banks and many credit unions via the CDR system, including CommBank, Westpac, NAB, ANZ, and Macquarie. You can sync data to popular destinations like Google Sheets, Notion, YNAB, Actual Budget, and Airtable. The list of supported connections and destinations is continually expanding based on user demand.

What security measures are in place?

Security is foundational. Redbark's entire infrastructure is hosted in Australia, keeping data under Australian jurisdiction. It uses AES-256 encryption for all credentials, relies on a SOC 2 certified tech stack (Vercel, PlanetScale), and is CDR compliant via an accredited partner. The pass-through architecture minimizes data exposure, and you can withdraw consent for data sharing at any time directly through your bank.

Alternatives

Pure Tax Investigations Alternatives

Pure Tax Investigations is a specialist service for businesses and entrepreneurs facing HMRC tax enquiries. It acts as an expert strategic partner, managing complex investigations to protect your growth and reputation. Founders and scaling businesses often explore alternatives for various reasons. This could be due to budget considerations, a need for different service tiers, or seeking a firm with a specific industry focus or technological approach to client management. When evaluating other options, prioritize proven expertise in tax dispute resolution, clear service scope, and a proactive philosophy that aligns with a high-growth environment. The right partner should demonstrably reduce risk and administrative burden, allowing you to maintain operational momentum.

Redbark Alternatives

Redbark is a secure financial data connector that automates the flow of information from your Australian bank accounts and global brokerages directly into tools like Google Sheets and Notion. It operates within the open banking and financial automation category, designed to eliminate manual data entry for individuals and businesses seeking a clear, real-time view of their finances. Users often explore alternatives to find a solution that perfectly aligns with their scaling needs, whether that's due to specific budget constraints, a requirement for different platform integrations, or the need for support with financial institutions outside Redbark's network. The search for the right tool is a natural part of building a more efficient, automated financial stack. When evaluating options, key considerations should include the security model and data access method, the range of supported banks and destinations, the ease of setup without coding, and the overall reliability of automated syncing. The goal is to find a robust partner that grows with your financial complexity, turning raw data into actionable insight without friction.

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