Please can i have your opinions on if this would seem reasonable to you.
A sole trader has asked me to do his VAT return giving me this weekend to do it. He only has about 30-40 transactions but he has several missing documents/invoices which he cannot remember what amounts he paid and cannot find his cheque book?! Also i believe he has charged VAT on invoices he shouldn't have done as it is part of a Franchise and he has been paid VAT directly by them as well for same sales.
Firstly whats the best course of action to take with regards to missing docs and extra VAT charged?
Also would £50 seem a reasonable charge for this VAT return?
I didn't understand what you meant by VAT charged on invoices he shouldn't have done as it is a part of a franchise. I'm just not sure how the two relate and what issue you see.
With the missing documents and unknown transactions, they will just have to wait I would think. Either they are found and the return is submitted late (penalties and other issues may arise), or an adjustment is made on a future return and hopefully it is within the limit so a voluntary disclosure won't be required.
£50 could be reasonable but I'm not sure of all the work that may be involved (state of the records, visits and travel, meetings etc etc). With the estimated total hours involved, and the hourly rate you would like to earn does it look like it is around there? Just one way to consider if it is reasonable.
Also...as it sounds like you've already agree to the work, what did you agree on for the charge? I wouldn't recommend taking on any significant amounts of work without being clear on this with the client.
Sorry i didnt make myself very clear!i havent taken on the work as yet, i said that i would take a look at it then come up with a figure for him depending on how much work it looked like. With the VAT on franchise bit, basically he has produced invoices with his own VAT number but has not had the money as it has gone into the head offices main account. Therefore with regards to the return how would you show this as otherwise he will have to pay more VAT than he has actually recieved but then he has put his VAT number on the invoices?!
