Tax investigations - insurance

Tax investigations - insurance

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Hi

I'm just curious about this, not in a position where a client has an investigation coming up.

But if I had such a client, I doubt I'd have the experience to handle anything other than a simple tax office review.  A serious investigation would probably be beyond my expertise, if I was intending to give the client the best service etc.

So is it usual to recommend all new clients to purchase fee insurance, etc.  And then push them in the direction of a specialist should such a situation arise?  Or should I be expected to spot a likely 'potential investigation' client from the start and then recommend the fee insurance?

Who sells fee insurance?

Sorry if the questions sound a bit stupid.

Eve

Replies (5)

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PJ
By paulgrca.net
05th Sep 2011 16:59

FSB

No it is not always usual but good practice to outline risks and potential costs. Just tell them to join FSB as subscription includes professional fee protection.Not sure who runs FSB scheme  (cant remember)  however if client makes a claim they will appoint a specialist to deal with investigation if you are not qualified to do so.

Probably costs circa £100 per annum. Give your local FSB a call I'm sure somebody will come and see you to outline things in more detail.

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Teignmouth
By Paul Scholes
05th Sep 2011 18:26

Main thing is to tell them about it

Just to back up what Paul said, ie that it's best practice to make clients aware and to have arrangements to put them in touch (as Paul suggests) or, in our case, take up a scheme on a client by client basis.  We use CCH and if something came up that we couldn't handle their experts are their to advice or step in.

We have a very low take up as we don't push it hard but at least clients are aware that it's on offer and only have themselves to blame if they end up paying a fortune to us or an expert should an enquiry or similar happen.

By the way, these schemes cover most anything that could happen, including VAT or PAYE disputes.

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By Eve 2206
05th Sep 2011 19:20

Hi

Thanks both, that's useful to know.

Eve

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Replying to sage9:
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By The Innkeeper
06th Sep 2011 07:23

PI

If you haven't mentioned it and something goes wrong there could be a PI issue

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Replying to Lindsay Knight:
John Stokdyk, AccountingWEB head of insight
By John Stokdyk
09th Sep 2011 14:05

Thanks for raising that last point about PI

Last week we set up a new Professional indemnity forum on the site, and this thread was the first topic I posted there.

If you want more background, I'd recommend a visit to see what the specialists have to say on the subject (or to comment in more depth yourself).

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