How ( in polite and possibly friendly way) get rid of clients who do not want to reveal all their income? Thank you.
Replies (12)
Please login or register to join the discussion.
You have lots of choices...
My favourites are:
a) Quadruple the fees - and know that you will never get paid
b) Write a PITA letter (templates available from 2020 Group (or some kind member on hear)
c) Gather all this crap together and if it reaches £10k, sell it to some poor sucker who's just starting up for £5k COD
Regards
Steve
And..................
My favourites are:
a) Quadruple the fees - and know that you will never get paid
Ask for that quadruple (well ok - double!) payment in advance and wait until the cheque has cleared.
In the highly unlikely event that they do pay you, there is a sporting chance of them turning into a reasonable client.
Really?
My favourites are:
a) Quadruple the fees - and know that you will never get paid
b) Write a PITA letter (templates available from 2020 Group (or some kind member on hear)
c) Gather all this crap together and if it reaches £10k, sell it to some poor sucker who's just starting up for £5k COD
Regards
Steve
Point C aren't we supposed to be ethical?
Letter of engagement
If you have a letter of engagement it states the clients responsibilities which enable you to act for them. It also states the way in which you will work for the client.
I would politely explain that if they are not providing information to you then you do not feel you can act within their best interests and as such you cannot continue to act for them.
Why are you so concerned about being friendly?
Can't you just tell them that you are not prepared to act for them if there is not full disclosure of their tax affairs?
At least that's polite.
Assuming you are a member of a professional body they should have disengagement templates. I had a lot of help from the ICAEW ethics about disengagement earlier this year with a client who was lying to me. I got paid in full for our time and exited, all above board no come back to us. There are some issues about putting the client to a disadvantage you need to dance around but fundamentally you dont have to work for anyone you dont want to, no reason required, so long as you give reasonable notice. I did it in Jan and he had 3 weeks to file his SA which I thought was reasonable myself!
I think in our letter I put something like "after advice from the ICAEW regarding the late disclosure of XYZ (the bit he made up) we cannot act for you" rather than "we dont work for a*sholes* which is what I wanted to write.
Do it formally and carefully, put it away, read it again the next day and then send.
Double their fees . . . . . and then double them again . . . . and then send their contact details to me! ;-)
Chris.
how to get rid of a client
I had a client who was basically a pain in the [***], no problem with information, so i doubled his fees, he still came back!
It's not just getting shot of them
Are you sure they are not disclosing their income or do you have reasonable grounds for doing so. I explain two new clients that if I become aware or have grounds to indicate they are not disclosing their income and gains, I will ask questions. If they do not answer, I will have to assume they my suspicions are well founded and make a report to the appropriate body. I cannot tell them if I have done this as I will be liable for up to 2 years imprisonment (I am not that desperate for a holiday). They may then be the subject of criminal investigation and proceedings.
It does not solve the present problem, have you considered the money laundering and POCA implications? You ought to. It's your livelihood and freedom at stake if you carry on with them and may still be if you do not.
tell them you have to reveal your suspicions
to SOCA or whoever. Aren't you supposed to do this anyway?
Tell them you have to reveal your suspicions
I agree. That is why I said I do it with new clients. On the initial contact, I make it clear before becoming involved that if I ever have grounds for suspicion that is what will happen. Occasionally they squirm and leave at that point and there is nothing to report. It is not reportable that a person might be thinking about something the suspicion is that an illegal activity is taking or has taken place.
I am happy to help a client mitigate tax but I will not tolerate evasion; it's illegal and affects -
my repuation if I do nothing about it;
my clients if HMRC were to discover I had not done anything about it and was therefore complicit; and
me if I am fined, imprisoned and no longer able to practice.
It's as much self preservation as ethics.
Easy
How can we make the VAT about £500, I was asked, Easy I replied I will soak up the excess takings of £12000, by making that my fee, will that be OK, alternately you can find someone else to make the VAT about £500 bye