Tax

[Blackbart]

I'm an accountant and I would suggest that if you are looking for one you spend a bit of time checking a few places out to find one you are comfortable with and trust. I would be careful about using a one man band with no qualitifications and there are plenty of them out there. Much better to find a chartered or certified one who is covered by the rules of their insitutes and who you can complain to if they do a bad job, they are also forced to have PI insurance in case you need to sue.

 

It's also worth considering getting fee insurance which for about £150 a year covers your accountants fees in the event of an inspection.

 

My only other advice is to make sure you are completly honest with your accountant, tell them everything and keep them up to date as there's generally little that can be done after the event but plenty that could be done before.

 

You will also save fees if you can at least put your information onto a spreadsheet, you're paying for an accoutant's time so the more of the basic work you do yourself, the cheaper the fee will likely be. I would suggest that every week you take an hour or so to update your books and records and this way it never becomes a mamouth job which you dread as the filing deadlines are approaching. If you go to an accountant in January saying can you do my tax you will likely pay a premium as they will be very busy, so do yourself a favour and get organised.

 

 

What would you say is a reasonable amount ?99.9% of my figures are handed to the accountant in a breakdown form all itemised with ingoing, outcoming,etc etc.He files online and basicaly transfers my figures onto the online form,his advice is non existent bordering on negligent and indeed i have just found out his employment for the accountants has just been terminated.He failed miserably in his handling of my accounts and has left me in a very very dodgy position with the tax,vat etc.Can i sue him ?P.S.I took your advice and went to a large reputable accountants and this is what happened.I would recommend going with the word of mouth approach and get an approval off a friend.

[Dr W]

I think your first port of call if you're not happy is with the firm, this is who you have your agreement with. Within your letter of engagement that both parties should have signed there should be a paragraph explaining what to do if you are not happy and there is usually a senior partner assigned to deal with complaints.

 

You need to speak to this person first and state your case, i.e that you're not happy with the service which you have paid for and the problems you have. You should have had a letter from the firm, when you first asked for a quote, explaining what they would do and what it would cost.

 

Your case will then be investigated and in most cases if they are in the wrong they will put things right for no additional charge.

 

You don't explain what you mean by being put in a dodgy position, have they been negligent, missed deadlines etc. If you don't get an acceptable answer from the firm then you can always try approaching the institute that the firm belongs to and ask then to look into the matter but this is a last resort and you should try to come to an agreement with the firm.

 

You'll usually find large reputable firms will provide a good service but mistakes do happen and if the guy has left the firm (was he a partner) you will be in a stronger position as the firm obviously realised there were problems (this is of course only my opinion from the brief facts you ahve given me and there maybe plenty of other reasons why he left).

 

It's always worth while visiting a few firms and seeing what they are like, you'll always get a free initial meeting so they can explain their services and what they can do for you. The advantage of a larger firm is that they have more resources and so will have specialilst departments for tax, vat etc which generally will be knowledgeable than a sole practioner.

[Blackbart]

Have they been negligent ?It depends,If you call forgeting to inform the inland revenue that i had closed one company and not sending my final return in for that company,resulting in me getting fined for late return.Then yes.Telling me in july that i should have been vat registered since the previous september After i asked them in september.Then yes.Telling me that my 2 companys wouldnt be put together for vat purposes when they should have .Then yes.Failing to tell me that i needent still be vat registered and should realy have de-registered months ago AFTER I ASKED THIS SPECIFIC QUESTION.Then yes.

 

I know at the end of the day all of the above is my responsibility and i have no doubt that this is what the reply will be.I just think if you are paying someone over £100 a month to do your accounts that they should have some accountability(no pun intended).

[Dirty Harry]

If you get really stuck my wife is a Chartered Accountant and may be able to help. She charges just over £100 per hour but I am sure she could do you for about £90.

[Dr W]

You need to get in touch with this company and state your grievances and you should also be looking for them to reimburse any penalties you suffered and some of your fees for the hassle and aggravation you have suffered.

 

Yes it is your responsibility but you are paying someone to provide these services and if they haven't you should be due a refund.

[Blackbart]

If you get really stuck my wife is a Chartered Accountant and may be able to help. She charges just over £100 per hour but I am sure she could do you for about £90.

 

Best offer i have had in ages harry and at £90 an hour very reasonable

 

On a serious note thanks for the offer,but i think the sums involved will find its own outcome.I have already payed them lots of money(5 figures)and now they have moved the goal posts so to speak and i have told them to whistle for it.

 

DRw they have payed the fine i was given and appologised but in the grand scheme of things it is a **** in the ocean.

 

On a bright note,i will soon have lots of time to go shooting :unsure:

[kev 1]

Thanks for all the input ,i am now in two minds of what to do.... :unsure:

[Biffo1262]

The best accountant is always one recommended by someone who actually uses them and is satisfied with their service. For anyone who is VAT registered I wouldn't even contemplate goping it alone. My daughters accountant has always saved her more than she has paid him.

[paulf]

I use an accountant, He does save me a bit and at the end of the day its one less thing to worry about. costs me around £400.

[kev 1]

Yes but paulf is that £400 the end of it or like me... he says i owe him say £350 and still tells me i owe the taxman like £450 on top of his bill...and this has been for a few years now....It really gets my Goat..... :unsure:

[Dr W]

Kev, unfortunately while an accountant will help to ensure information is correct, filed on time and will do what they can to minimise any amounts due, they can't magically make the tax disappear if it's actually due, if you make profits then there's usually tax to pay of some sort.

[kev 1]

Thanks for the input DR W, sorry to keep on but do you think i would be better off to take it to tax office with appointment and get help from them or get another accountant?

[paulf]

Kev, sadly his fees the £400 then theres the tax

[kev 1]

So its not just me then?

[mr lee]

I pay my accountant his fee's then the tax man what I owe him. Can't get away with it unless you show a loss.

[Dr W]

Thanks for the input DR W, sorry to keep on but do you think i would be better off to take it to tax office with appointment and get help from them or get another accountant?

 

Difficult to say without seeing your books and records.

 

Really depends on the size of the profits and how much you'll be paying in tax and whether the cost of the accountants fees will offset that amount of tax e.g if you say owed £20k in tax and your accountant could save you a couple of grand then would be worth be paying his fees. If you're records are in good order showing total income and a list of totalled expenses it might be worth going to see a few accountants and see whether they thought they could save you anything, if not try the local tax office but they might not be as willing to mention all the possible things you could do to lower your tax bill (as that's not really in their best interests). Can't hurt to have a couple of free meetings with accountants for their view, might get some good free advice and also make sure you get a fee agreed in adance so you know how much you're going to pay.

[al4x]

So its not just me then?

 

welcome to the real world basically the acountant provides a service by producing your accounts, while he does this he basically takes your income and takes off your expenses to work out what profit you made in the year. Where he then earns his money is by claiming any extra benefits or depreciation that can lower your profit figure. These may be for example if you work from home a cost for the space you use etc Once he gets your profit figure as low as possible you then have to pay tax on it.

 

If you just go to the tax office they won't try any of the loopholes to reduce your tax as far as they can so you'll end up paying more, how much more depends what profit you have made.

[ME]

We have just had our end of year back and I am coughing £9k in corporation tax this year.

 

I am with a reasonable sized accountants and while they arent very "creative", I can sleep at night knowing that I am an upstanding tax-paying member of society and that I am not gonna do a stretch whilst being some big geezers "cell missus" for a few years !

 

 

EDIT: most accountants charge around £100.00 for a simple personal tax return. Little to moan about for peace of mind.

Edited August 8, 2008 by LV

[al4x]

be glad thats all it is LV I had to do nearly 20 last year and that hurt, There seems a big difference between companies and personal returns as to how creative accountants can be. Ours never create much whereas my sister who is a childminder they claim allowances even down to the bog roll so she hardly pays anything at all

[ME]

be glad thats all it is LV I had to do nearly 20 last year and that hurt, There seems a big difference between companies and personal returns as to how creative accountants can be. Ours never create much whereas my sister who is a childminder they claim allowances even down to the bog roll so she hardly pays anything at all

 

Unfortunately transport / freight is quite black and white.

 

This one always makes me chuckle ! - "Straight" Freight