A new client has come to us and upon completing the first set of accounts we've found that there has been CIS tax that was due back, but has never been claimed by the previous accountant, for the last 6 years.
The only way of reclaiming the tax, that I know of, is to submit P35s but as they would now be late (a PAYE scheme was never set up by previous accountant as there were no salaries) I am thinking that the openalties would outweigh the tax refund.
Does anybody know of another way of approaching this?
Thanks in advance to all who can assist.
Replies (2)
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Unsure
The standard way I always use is the P35 route, but you'd need to contact HMRC to seek their opinion.
The P35's would have a £100 pcm late filing penalty (minimum) so if you guesstimate that this could be a minimum of £7,200, which might outweigh the benefit of the CIS refund, but obviously these penalties wouldn't have been incurred had the old accountant done his job. But, did he even know about it?
The client could check their engagement letter from the previous accountant to look into PAYE responsibilities? If it says your predecessor would deal with it then they have a shot.
Dependent on what the engagement letters say, have they been negligent? Seek legal advice?
Yes
Is it a limited company.
Then write to Employers section telling them of the issues. I would suggest you first ring them and chat it through without giving the clients name and ask for the best course of action.
Sounds like a nice refund due for the client.