Bad advice from accountant: Can we recover money from them?

DullGreyGuy

Had it come to a complaint the key would have been exactly how your question was worded... anything you have/need to do would generally be driven by regulation, law or HMRC operating procedures. Whilst it is beneficial to switch from flat rate you don't necessarily "need" to. Given you cannot go back to flat rate for 12 months after leaving it may actually be sensible to continue it if this is a very short term arrangement. 

Its sensible to make sure you are clear in questions if you are asking for base rule/law clarification or asking for them to opine on tax mitigation strategies etc... they normally will ask more clarification for questions on the later than the former. 

penners324

pjs493 said:

Have you considered changing your accountant?

my husband learned a few years ago that the accountant he’d been using had failed to tell him about claims he could have been making related to food expenses with his job. He learned about it from a colleague who’d been claiming these against his tax bill for years. 

My husband asked his accountant why they hadn’t told him he could claim and the accountant brushed it off. He ended up engaging a different company who were able to back date the claims from the last few years. It was too late to claim anything older. He tried to get compensation from the old accountant but they stood firm and refused to compensate him. It wasn’t worth taking it further, as it would have cost my husband more in legal fees than he’s lost out on. 

You're not allowed to deduct food expenses if you're based on 1 site. Possibly if you're staying overnight for working away.

I think you're original accountant was correct. The new is just trying it as HMRC are too busy to check. If they day do check then he could be in for a big fine

pjs493

penners324 said:

pjs493 said:

Have you considered changing your accountant?

my husband learned a few years ago that the accountant he’d been using had failed to tell him about claims he could have been making related to food expenses with his job. He learned about it from a colleague who’d been claiming these against his tax bill for years. 

My husband asked his accountant why they hadn’t told him he could claim and the accountant brushed it off. He ended up engaging a different company who were able to back date the claims from the last few years. It was too late to claim anything older. He tried to get compensation from the old accountant but they stood firm and refused to compensate him. It wasn’t worth taking it further, as it would have cost my husband more in legal fees than he’s lost out on. 

You're not allowed to deduct food expenses if you're based on 1 site. Possibly if you're staying overnight for working away.

I think you're original accountant was correct. The new is just trying it as HMRC are too busy to check. If they day do check then he could be in for a big fine

My husband was in the military and any posting less than two years in length is considered a temporary assignment and therefore food expenses can be considered. He moved to a firm that specialised in people serving in the military.