Obligations re tax enquiries after retirement

What do I need to do if a client has a enquiry raised about a tax year that I did the work for?

Didn't find your answer?

I'm planning to retire in 2021. I am not selling my practice but am giving my clients plenty of notice to find a new accountant. I will be notifying HMRC to remove me as an agent. What will be my obligations if a client has a enquiry raised about a tax year that I produced the accounts and tax return for?

And in the spirit of being helpful, as many of my clients are small self-employed or only have rental income, I have canvassed my friends to see if they have an accountant with whom they are very happy, and am considering offering to provide a list of 10 of these, being clear that I am not personally recommending them. Does anyone forsee a problem with this?

Thank you for any advice

Replies (2)

Please login or register to join the discussion.

avatar
By Paul Crowley
28th Jun 2020 19:39

Selling through agents is pain but there will be accountants who would definitely reward you for taking over.
I would

For enquiry purposes, Just need to keep the files, and address that issue if it arises. Easy to think just a year, but enquiries can start into your years if a subsequent year is found to be in error.

PII run off definitely required.

One problem with not selling is new accountant being a smart [***] and pointing out what he thinks to be your errors, despite not being there at the time.

Thanks (1)
By johngroganjga
29th Jun 2020 08:22

You won’t be under any obligation to get involved in formulating the responses to HMRC - that will be the job of the new accountants. But. as Paul says, you should keep your files accessible and provide any information from them on request.

Thanks (1)