Hi everyone,
In connection to my recent post's and the same client I am curious about his missing P60' s...
... before our initial meeting I requested he bring all relevant documents and one of which was his previous P60' s.
When the meeting took place he provided me with most of the stuff apart from his bank statements for the tax year and his P60' s.
When I asked him for his previous P60' s he said he has never had any, and he was going to give me the P60 from his wife. I said "no, I need your P60' s", but he adamant he has never had any.
I thought every person who has worked the previous tax year's gets a P60 no matter what their employment.
Is this the case or not?
Kind regards
David
Now that's convenient. The client loses the P60 AND the bank statements... What is it he doesn't want you to know! (Oh, didn't think that I needed to tell you about the sale of that buy to let or the income from the two houses in Spain!).
Well, best case scenario I would say that he received the P60 and slung it so is now denying ever receiving it.
Worst case scenario is that the client is trying to hide things from you.
If you have the 64-8 in place you can get the details from the P14 filed with HMRC.
All bank statements can be reorddered if the client has conveniently lost them.
That would be costly for the client so if they offer to print the bank statements from online banking make sure that they do it in front of you as you want to give them no opportunity to amend the figures before printing them off.
So, the case is now :
- You feel physically threayened by the client
- They do not give you the information that you need
- They would hold you personally responsible for any errors that HMRC pick up on.
Are you sure that you want to continue with this one...
Others state in the other thread that the client signs the self assessment so no worries.... But are you not signing this as an agent. If you get noticed by HMRC for filing dodgy self assessments then it's off to the naughty step for you! And in the process you win the potential of a free investigation for all of your other clients.
HMRC are very keen on picking up on bad agents and removing their status. I am not saying that you are a bad agent but the client could be creating a scenario where you may be perceived by them as one.
My understanding is that the Agent view program has still not been implemented but it is not something that can be simply ignored as it is coming as surely as RTI and it shows HMRC's future thinking.
Agents cannot hide behind the fascade of the self assessment being the clients responsibility, not theirs.
Shaun.
__________________
Shaun
Responses are not meant as a substitute for professional advice. Answers are intended as outline only the advice of a qualified professional with access to all relevant information should be sought before acting on any response given.
One thing I didn't mention as well at our initial meeting was that he didn't take to me being his tax agent when I asked him. Hence, I am not a tax agent for him. NOW! this leads to another question...
"Can I still submit his tax return even though I am not a tax agent for him?"
I have not entered any figures for his online tax return yet.
Before I am putting myself in any forthcoming difficult situation I want to gather all the information I can so any unwarranted situation does not occur and I have got my facts right.
I know every client is different, but this one is a real test.
My one previous tax return client was straightforward and he was willing to provide me with everything I asked for at the time, and he was happy for me to be his tax agent too.
If you are not the agent then you are simply helping the client to file their own return rather than acting on their behalf.
How can the client hold you responsible for anything if you are not allowing you to act as their agent?
In this scenario you are basically charging for advice rather than taking control of the filing.
The issue though keeps coming back to this clients expectation that they do not need to share all information with you, they do not want you to have access to their history and they are telling you that you are 100% responsible for any issues.
All goes back to my initial thoughts that you should forget about the money on this one and just wash your hands of this client unless they change their stance completely.
It may be a good idea to video any meetings with this client (handy webcam placed up the corner of the room is always useful (provided that the client has been informed that calls / meetings may be recorded wich should be in your engagement letter).
The other main issue here is that you are allowing the client to dictate the terms.
Thats not how it works.
You tell the client what will be, they take it or leave it.
Some things are negotiable but this client seems to want everything their way and in such override your standard policies and procedures... Have you performed MLR / know your client procedures on this client? Have you written an ettiquette letter to their previous financial representitive? Have you received a reply? Has the client signed your standard engagement letter stating that they will provide all required documentation?
My impression is that the client wants you to take responsibility but I bet they have run ruffshod over the above by stating that you are not their agent.
I think that we've all had difficult clients but that you feel physically intimidated by this one may be making you accept a scenario that you should not.
Taking the intiimidation out of the equation, how would you react if this were someone less impossing making these demands.
Your treatment of the clients affairs should be no different between the two.
If I were you I would dump this client now before it's too late for them to find someone else to do their tax return and they genuinely have a £100 penalty to blame you for.
Shaun.
__________________
Shaun
Responses are not meant as a substitute for professional advice. Answers are intended as outline only the advice of a qualified professional with access to all relevant information should be sought before acting on any response given.
What work did he do that should have resulted in a P60? Is it that he wasn't employed, or that he was paid cash and didn't go though the books? It could be that his previous 'employer' is dodgy??
