Tax Fines - HMRC

Tax Fines - HMRC

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Dear Friends,

I have a work college that has worked in France (she is not sure if it was self employed or employed) for 1/2 years, she employed an Accountant to look after her Tax issues, a couple of years later HMRC are sending her fines (I have not yet seen what the fines are for yet) , she went to her Accountant but he has stopped trading.

What can be done to get hold of the paperwork ? I thought companies must keep paperwork for 5/6 years right if so how would have them and were can I start to ask questions, would the Acounting body know what has happened to the company or who has the paperwork?

She has no paperwork as she left everything to her accountant !!!

Sorry to be a little thing on the story but this is all have have a present.

Kind Regards

DkbTiger

Replies (15)

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By Tim Vane
24th Nov 2015 14:45

Tell her to find another accountant ASAP. They may be able to have the penalties removed, depending on the circumstances.

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Hitch photo
By Kevin Kavanagh
24th Nov 2015 16:05

The problem is...based on his or her previous posts DKB Tiger is an accountant!

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Replying to Tax Dragon:
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By DKB Tiger
25th Nov 2015 11:00

and so what if I am other Accountants / bookkeeper's use this site for questions etc !!!!!

So what's your issue if you cannot be asked for reply with an answer then do some else in your sad life 

 

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Replying to Rammstein1:
By petersaxton
25th Nov 2015 18:28

Changed my mind

DKB Tiger wrote:

and so what if I am other Accountants / bookkeeper's use this site for questions etc !!!!!

So what's your issue if you cannot be asked for reply with an answer then do some else in your sad life 

I was going to offer you some advice but given your attitude I have changed my mind. I hope AccountingWeb close your account.

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Replying to Wilson Philips:
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By DKB Tiger
27th Nov 2015 04:44

I DONT THINK THEY WILL 

I DONT THINK THEY WILL 

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Nichola Ross Martin
By Nichola Ross Martin
24th Nov 2015 16:55

DKB Tiger

Does that stand for Don't Know But (it might be a) Tiger? aka DKBIMBAT. I just ask because we tend to shout DKBIMBAT when we see large unknown wild animals on the road at night (a lot of big cat sitings where we are based).

The question: sounds like you need to forget about the paperwork, if its gone its gone, estimate a return and explain why in the white space of the return.

 

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Replying to frankfx:
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By DKB Tiger
24th Nov 2015 18:20

Book Keeper not a Accountant I am But a not wild Cat either !!!!

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By cheekychappy
25th Nov 2015 11:05

If you post your replies using English, and don't call contributors sad, it will help you get an answer to your question.

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By Ken Howard
25th Nov 2015 11:23

Was the accountant qualified/regulated

The first question must be whether the accountant was qualified/regulated.  Hopefully so, so the next port of call should be the professional body who should have some details on file as to the ownership of the practice (presumably still a member or even if not, they should have personal address details etc), and they'll also have PI insurance details which may be useful if a claim if foreseen for the penalties etc.  Another practice may have taken it over so may have the files and client papers etc and may even have tried to contact your friend without success if they've moved around a bit.  A little bit of digging with the prof body may well prove fruitful.

If they didn't engage a qualified/regulated accountant, then it may indeed be a lost cause, and yes, estimated returns will have to be filed, but hopefully even with no "papers", you can still get details of their bank statements for the years affected to get certainty of income and maybe even some expenses, and they may be able to contact some suppliers etc for copy invoices or confirmation of payments, i.e. Amazon go back forever it seems if they want to claim for equipment or office supplies, insurers also go back years in their files.  Yes, it takes time and effort to do a reconstruction, but it needs doing, and more importantly, HMRC will expect all possible steps to have been taken before they accept estimates.

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Replying to tom123:
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By DKB Tiger
25th Nov 2015 15:10

Thank you for your help

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Replying to tom123:
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By DKB Tiger
27th Nov 2015 04:46

Thank you very much for your reply, I will look into possible ways. 

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By BroadheadAccountants
25th Nov 2015 12:06

Wishful thinking leaving everything to the accountant.

 

Was the accountant to sign the tax returns and pay their own fees?
 

I would be starting from scratch it being the taxpayer's responsibility to keep the records allowing a taxation return to be filed.

 

With the taxation returns filed you can then discuss the penalties and objecting to these.  It's a whole separate issue as to whether leaving the tax return to someone else is grounds for a successful penalty objection (likely not I suspect).

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By pawncob
25th Nov 2015 15:06

I suggest

She approaches an accountant and asks him to sort it out.

 

I shudder to think what The Grammar Police would make of this OP.

 

If this is the same "college" I'd pass her to the same specialist.

 

https://www.accountingweb.co.uk/anyanswers/question/income-self-employed

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Replying to gainsborough:
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By DKB Tiger
25th Nov 2015 16:12

Not the same person !!! But nice try for looking at my log of questions!!!! I do come into contact with people and people I would like to help.

 

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By The Innkeeper
25th Nov 2015 21:59

And where prey
Is dear Portia for a pithy comment. .

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