Can you get your file assessed for £10 and rely on it?

Can you get your file assessed for £10 and rely...

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Is this an innovative way for a business to advertise or someone selling something they are unlikely to deliver?
In a day and age where marketing is varied online and potential clients may choose new avenues to resolve HMRC issues, is this just a wider net being cast?

While searching Books in eBay this came up.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/DO-YOU-HAVE-HMRC-PROBLEMS-We-can-help-/2218254...
I am in no way wishing to jump to conclusions about Hammond & Co, but would be interested to read comments.

Description of item for sale.

Hammond & Co are experts at sorting out problems that you may have with HMRC....

We have had clients who have not filed a Self-Assessment tax return for over 10 years.... But we've sorted it!

We have had clients who have phoned us just as the HMRC enforcement team have shown up at their door.... But we've sorted it!

We have had clients who have owed tens of thousands of pounds for not filing PAYE when they should have... But we've sorted it!

Some clients have just filed SA returns late and have been hit with a penalty.... Again, we've sorted it!

Some of the penalties have been ignored or forgotten about and within no time at all the clients have owed 10 times the original amount plus interest... Sorted!

We have dealt with many clients, each one has been different and our approach and understanding to the individual situation has been to deal with the situation swiftly, discreetly and without any fuss.

No matter what the problem is we may be able to help you. Hammond & Co. have dealt with every conceivable situation.

How we work.

We will look at your case and assess the situation, we will then advise you of the best course of action and give you a "fixed" price for the service required.

If you're happy with our recommendation and our course of action then we will prepare your defense and lodge an appeal.

For us to assess your case we charge a fixed fee of £10 via the "Buy it Now" button in this listing, upon purchasing our professional assessment we will send you (via post) a couple of forms that you'll need to complete that will allow us to take instruction and assess the case. Once you've received our completed assessment and you decide you want us to represent you, we will then send a bit more stuff out via post.

It only costs £10 for a complete assessment, and you could save thousands of pounds in penalties and fines.

Hammond & Co. have a very high success rate and are happy to supply testimonials from satisfied clients upon request.

Hammond & Co are registered with HMRC as registered tax advisers.

Replies (9)

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By mrme89
23rd Jul 2015 15:28

It seems like the 'assessment' is just the initial meeting most accountants offer for free.

 

 

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By mgandc
23rd Jul 2015 15:29

£10 for what probably do for free?


I can't see that you end up with a good quality client, but surely all they are doing is assessing facts and then quoting for work, which as a minimum they get £10 for.

I guess most of us do that for nothing in our 'free consultation'

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By Tim Vane
23rd Jul 2015 15:57

The listing is clearly in violation of the usual HMRC restrictions ignored by "rogue" agents, including use of the HMRC logo and the use of the phrase "registered tax advisers".

As usual though, there is nothing that honest agents are able to do to stop the infringements, since there is no way of reporting the violation, either to ebay or to HMRC.

Because nobody is ever taken to account on logo violation or describing themselves as registered agents, such abuse continues to grow and includes several regular contributors to AWeb. It really annoys me that HMRC set rules and then don't enforce them, thus leaving those of us who follow them at somewhat of a disadvantage.

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By Anne Robinson
23rd Jul 2015 16:02

Note that it says "but we sorted it" which does not exactly mean that the debts/tax/penalties were cancelled, just that they sorted it out. Sure we all do that when we tell the client that yes you do owe for this and here is the payslip to pay it!!!

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By Melody
23rd Jul 2015 16:10

But what proportion of clients.have they sorted?

They can truthfully say "we've had clients who ...... but we've sorted it" even if they've sorted it for just one or two clients in each category - and not managed to "sort" the rest.

Many A-Webbers will have sorted out similar problems on occasion - just not necessarily for every client in those situations.

And of course once these people have "assessed the situation" (for a fee), for all we know they could be "sorting it" for a few but telling most clients that the penalties to date can't be escaped but they can help them sort out their affairs to avoid further penalties - just what any accountant could do!

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By cparker87
23rd Jul 2015 16:54

Innovative

Agree that it is a bit pony but quite an innovative way to get interest. 

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By Paul D Utherone
23rd Jul 2015 19:51

He's a veritable

one stop tax & legal services shop if you look at all his offerings - www.ebay.co.uk/sch/dazstevens/m.html

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By ireallyshouldknowthisbut
24th Jul 2015 11:43

.

I wonder if they actually do any accounting.

Or do they simply charge £10 for sending out a generic quote such as "that will be £10,000 please sir" and bank the £10?

Or perhaps sell on the leads to those muppets who call you up and say "I have leads from people wanting accounting services"

 

 

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Replying to Paul Crowley:
By Paul D Utherone
24th Jul 2015 12:44

if you look at all his eBay offerings

ireallyshouldknowthisbut wrote:

I wonder if they actually do any accounting.

Or do they simply charge £10 for sending out a generic quote such as "that will be £10,000 please sir" and bank the £10?

Or perhaps sell on the leads to those muppets who call you up and say "I have leads from people wanting accounting services"

They do fixed fee SA returns and Accounts & SA returns for between £150 & £175.

£10 appears to be looking at penalty notices and advising whether there's a chance in hell or not

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