Bad Accountant - What are my rights please?

darenmatthews

Dear all,

I recently gave up freelance work (IT contracting via a Ltd. Company) and my accountant has, I believe, been somewhat negligent.

I should explain:
My last accountant was fine and a gentleman. Sadly he passed away and his son passed on my details to a new accountant.

Some background:
My first problem (and I blame myself for this) was that he charged me over £1000 to enter my details onto his Sage accounting software. I eventually (stupidly) accepted this.

Now I am employed PAYE and wanted to close down the Ltd. company. When looking further into the accounts, I discovered that all of the tax refunds that he had calculated I was due, had not been refunded by HMRC.

I asked him to seek to recover those and have been given nothing but obfuscation and folderol and the last thing I was told was that there would be nothing he could do for me.

He also told me that HMRC would not speak to him, because form 64/8 had not been filed. Therefore I had to deal with them myself.

After having spent fruitless hours on the telehpne, I asked him to file a 64/8 so that he could deal with them. This was done.

Now I am being told that because the Ltd. company is in the process of being closed, the HMRC may not be able to write a cheque out to me personally and if that become the case, there was (again) "nothing we can do".

He also said that with regard to all of the past years refunds, he had already written to them but "they never got back to me". i did ask him why he didn't follow that up and also why I was never made aware of this.

At this point he became agitated and said that I should not "rake over the ashes".

Please help because i have no idea how to proceed with this. all I wish to do is reclaim the overpaid taxes but I am now concerned that I will have to write all of these off.

I also checked (google) to see if he was connected with any professional body with a complaints procedure - I did this in anticipation of being fobbed off yet again. It seems he isn't.

My stupidity aside, what on Earth can I do now? I have no beef with the accountant - I just want to reclaim my tax refunds and overpayments.

Thanks in anticipation of any help that anyone can provide.
regards,
Daren

squeaky

Hiya

We havea board which deals specifically with tax issues, so I'll move your query across there.

Good luck

Forum_Team wrote:

Hi, Martin’s asked me to post this in these circumstances: I’ve asked Board Guides to move threads if they’ll receive a better response elsewhere (please see this rule) so this post/thread has been moved to another board, where it should get more replies. If you have any questions about this policy please email [EMAIL='forumteam@moneysavingexpert.com']forumteam@moneysavingexpert.com[/EMAIL]

darenmatthews

Thank you. I would like to subscribe to the new post, so that I am made aware of any replies, so please can I be sent the new link?

Thanks again for moving to a new forum category so that I'll receive better responses.

heretolearn_2

If you are voluntarily closing down the company, can you stop the process for now and reinstate. This can be done (with a bit of work) at quite a late stage. Call companies house about it.

You and the Ltd company are two separate legal entities. The ltd companies tax refunds are not yours personally.

I'm not sure what your rights are re the accountant. If you had chosen one that was accredited professionally, like ACA or ACCA, then those bodies would have helped you. But 'accountant' isn't a restricted title, any idiot can call themselves one. As you found out. All I can think is that possibly if you can prove financial loss through negligence, you might be able to sue but you need to see a solicitor. And find out if your 'accountant' has any Professional Indemnity insurance.

darenmatthews

Thank you heretolearn,

I am reinstaing the company (form DS02, apparently) and opening a bank account so that I cna have monies paid into that account. I then close it again once paid.

My, er, accountant says that I will incur another fee of £10, plus his fees.

What a nightmare! I live and learn.

Philipma

The £10 fee is correct but as for his charges I would go direct to companies house and deal with them yourself as there will be no other charges.

If you use him for any work he will keep charging you even if you feel you are not getting a just services.

I sudjest you move all your accounts away from him and search out a new accountant who is registered.

cinderfella

If I ever hear the words 'sage software' again I think I will scream. Some accountants always recommend sage to their clients. To be honest the last software a relatively small firm needs is sage. It is the accountants staff that have to spend an eternity sorting out the resultant mess from this software. It is basically too complex for the average businessman to use, it also has a lot of 'quirks'.

Closing down a limited company is very straightforward. So long as you can prove to the Inland Revenue that there will be no further tax due since the last accounts were prepared they will strike it off at Companies House. If you put through a large sum for Directors remuneration that should do the trick (that is pay paye instead of corporation tax).

darenmatthews

Dear all,

Thanks again for all of your help. What a great forum.

Just to let you all know, I have expressed my dissatisfaction with my soon to be Ex-Accountant. I insisted he telephone HMRC (as I simply can't do this during my lunch hour, when I get to take one!).

He has now told me that they will write a cheque to me personally, for the tax refund due, which I believe has arisen as a result of a tax code change (I'm simply guessing here, the accountant does not know).

However, I was then told that they "had no explanation" for not refunding taxes in the previous years.

Worryingly, he has now advised me that they will be refunding these for the years 2008/9 and 2009/10 - he made no mention of the years prior to that. Basically, I have not received refunds for:

2009/2010
2008/2009
2007/2008

I checked the HMRC website and the time limit for reclaiming for the year 2007/8 is April 2012.

I've queried this with him. I await his reponse.

Thanks again. Very, very much appreciated.

BoGoF

I'd take what he says with a pinch of salt. Have you completed Self Assessment Tax Returns for these years. As a company director (and I assume you were) you will need to complete Tax Returns.

I'm surprised you haven't been hit with penalties if these have not been completed

darenmatthews

Hi BoGoF,

Yes, a huge handful of salt. The accountant did my personal taxes as well (So lord knows what the status of these are). My problem stems from the fact that my previous accountant was so good and explained things so well. Since the new one was appointed I have had difficulty understanding what is happening to any entity, personal or company.

It's the sign of a bad professional, in my opinion, if they cannot communicate clearly.

Again though - I only have myself to blame.

I will keep this thread updated as to my progress because I sincerely appreciate all of the goodwill and kind assistance I have received and it would be nice to show closure on this Forum. All of the help which i have received has restored my faith in human nature.

sunshinetours

Good luck with it all. But can you please stop calling him an accountant - it gives all us real accountants a bad name! As someone above said unlike solicitors and bariisters, accountant is not a restricted title despite recent attempts to have it made so (with good reason)

Fortunately for you the reinstatement process of a company is now vastly simplified whereas previously it would have needed a court order and several thousand pounds of professional fees