Accountant threatening Proceedings

[searching70]

Hope I have started this in the right forum.

 

Quick summary of dilemma.

 

My OH needed to do his tax returns for 2012-2013....I thought I would help by finding an accountant.

 

I found a firm which looked like they were quite professional. They gave a quote for their fee for approx £120....and sent a form for OH to sign and also all the information about his self employment....earnings, profit and expenses etc etc.

 

The accountant calculated what the OH had to pay as tax and NI contributions.

 

This is where it went upside down. Just before we were deciding to go ahead my OH received news about a family member that had passed away and he had to go abroad....he is still there as his mother is also terminally ill. But before he went he asked his friend if he would help him submit his tax return which he did.

 

I sent an email to the accountant advising that OH had to leave due what had happened.....since then I have received several emails from the account requesting that we pay his fee of £120.00.

 

The last email he sent was yesterday :

 

 

We notice that you have not settled our outstanding account.

 

Unless we receive payment within the next 21 days, we shall consider issuing proceedings to recover the outstanding sum. This may involve you in further costs.

 

In accordance with our terms and conditions, we shall also charge a further £25.00 plus VAT for chasing the debt.

 

We look forward to hearing from you.

 

Kind regards

 

We have not got a copy of their terms and conditions...all communication was done via email....but will double check to see all the same.

 

The last thing I want is to get involved in any sort of legal proceedings but do not know what to do. Yes we did contact this accountant and the figures that he added were less than what my OH submitted to HMRC.....

 

Now this accountant wants his full fee even though we did not advise him to send off the information but he did send HMRC the form my OH signed saying that he had instructed them. HMRC sent a notification to the accountant that my OH had submitted his tax returns.

 

It was not our intention to do this...but the accountant is asking his full fee but we did not use that full service....now he is threatening to issue proceedings....plus I cannot do anything until OH returns which to be honest could be a while....and I do not want any claim form landing on my doorstep either.

 

Please could anyone advise how to sort out this stupid mess I seem to have got us in? and does the accountant have the power to issue a claim in such circumstances? If I had to file a defence this will all look so ridiculous in court.....I would think?

 

Thank you all in advance for any help on this matter.

[ashmk]

I think your OH should contact the accountant and come up with a repayment plan.

 

Your OH contracted him to work out the figures and send them off to HMRC which he did.

[searching70]

Thanks ashmk for your response......2 problems there...one OH is not here to do that also though we contacted the accountant to do work....he did not send off OH's returns.....as I said in the first post OH had his friend do them.

 

If the accountant had sent off OH's tax returns then he would have been able to reclaim the accountants fee under expenses...but he did not.

 

Basically the accountant was contacted but did not do any work...just emailed an estimate of what my OH would need to pay in tax & NI income.....but as OH's declared his proper earnings to the HMRC the amount he has to pay is different from what the accountant calculated. I will have to contact the accountant and advise him and refer him to my email I sent a while ago that OH was not here....and if he continues to go ahead and issue proceedings under these circumstances then he can explain to the court that even after knowing this information he issued a claim.

 

I would also like to know why he thinks he can charge a full fee on just sending an estimate......as we did not use his full services and get him to submit OH's tax returns.

 

Hope that makes sense? Will cost him approx £80 to issue a claim...and no doubt he would want to claim costs on top. We would also like to see a copy of the terms and conditions he is referring to in his last email....as far as I can see he did not send them.

[*RainbowTears*]

You contacted the Accountant & you took on his "services" by asking him to do your husbands tax returns for £120.

 

You must of then given the Accountant your Husbands figures etc & the Accountant did them & submitted them to HMRC.

 

So the Accountant has indeed fulfilled his side of what he was contracted for by you. Your personal circumstances do not come into this as it had nothing to do with the Accountant directly or affected him in anyway to stop him from doing what you contracted him to do.

 

To be honest I think you should just pay up now before this costs you a lot more than the original £120. As I cannot see a way of you being able to defend this in court.

[Ros1609]

I don't think you have a leg to stand on. You contacted an accountant and he calculated the figures for you. Now he wants paying so pay him before you end up having to pay a lot lot more in fees and charges

[searching70]

You contacted the Accountant & you took on his "services" by asking him to do your husbands tax returns for £120.

 

You must of then given the Accountant your Husbands figures etc & the Accountant did them & submitted them to HMRC.

 

So the Accountant has indeed fulfilled his side of what he was contracted for by you. Your personal circumstances do not come into this as it had nothing to do with the Accountant directly or affected him in anyway to stop him from doing what you contracted him to do.

 

To be honest I think you should just pay up now before this costs you a lot more than the original £120. As I cannot see a way of you being able to defend this in court.

 

 

That is not what happened but thank you for your input.

 

I will call the accountant tomorrow to try and resolve this matter amicably.

 

Thank you to all for your help.

[new-me2010]

Just read this again.

 

Didn't the OP's husband sign a form and send the accountant the figures.

 

That's a contract.

 

The accountant did the work he was contracted for with the information he was supplied

so is entitled to his fee even though the husbands friend then did them with other figures.

 

Why didn't the husband ask his friend to do them in the first place.

 

IMHO I think the accountant is right to take to court for monies outstanding and Searching70

wanted this forum to indemnify the avoidance of payment.

[*RainbowTears*]

"Searching70

wanted this forum to indemnify the avoidance of payment"

 

Possibly!!

 

@ OP So what was you expecting the Accountant to do then??

 

You contracted him to do the Tax returns based on the figures you supplied him. (How else could he of come up with the Tax return figures & send them to the HMRC??)

 

As you say he did in fact do this, then hes completed what you requested him to do, regardless of any personal issues you had or even having a friend do them instead.

 

Simply pay him for the job he did do & save yourself anymore stress or rising costs that you will face in any court action.