Terms of Service
Below is a summary of our standard Terms of Engagement for Sole Traders and Personal Tax Clients. For details of our terms for Limited Companies and Partnerships, please contact us.
PERSONAL TAX COMPLIANCE: TERMS OF ENGAGEMENT
1. INTRODUCTION
1.1 This letter sets out the basis on which Robert Lewis Accountants are to act as your tax agent and adviser.
1.2 Your spouse is legally responsible for their own tax affairs and should be dealt with independently.
2. PERIOD OF ENGAGEMENT
2.1 This engagement will commence with your tax return for the year to 5 April 2007.
2.2 We will deal with matters arising in respect of years prior to the above year, as appropriate, on request
3. OUR SERVICE TO YOU
3.1 We will prepare your personal tax return together with such supporting schedules as are appropriate and we will prepare/check the H.M. Revenue & Customs calculation of your tax liability.
3.2 We will send you your tax return and supporting schedules for you to approve and sign. We will then submit it to H.M. Revenue & Customs.
3.4 We will tell you how much tax you should pay and when. If appropriate we will initiate repayment claims when tax has been overpaid.
3.5 We will deal with the H.M. Revenue & Customs regarding any amendments required to your return and prepare any amended returns which may be required.
3.6 We will advise as to possible claims and elections arising from the tax return and from information supplied by you. Where instructed by you, we will make such claims and elections in the form and manner required by the H.M. Revenue & Customs.
3.7 We will deal with all communications relating to your return addressed to us by the H.M. Revenue & Customs or passed to us by you. However, if the Inspector of Taxes chooses your return for enquiry this work will be the subject of a separate engagement in which case we will seek further instructions from you.
3.8 We will check PAYE notices of coding where such notices are forwarded to us.
4. YOUR RESPONSIBILITIES: PROVISION OF INFORMATION BY YOU
4.1 You are legally responsible for making correct returns by the due date and for payment of tax on time. Failure to meet the deadlines may result in automatic penalties, surcharges and/or interest.
4.2 To enable us to carry out our work you agree:
(a) that all returns are to be made on the basis of full disclosure of all sources of income, charges, allowances and capital transactions;
(b) to provide full information necessary for dealing with your affairs: we will rely on the information and documents being true, correct and complete and will not audit the information or those documents;
(c) that we can approach such third parties as may be appropriate for information that we consider necessary to deal with your affairs;
(d) to provide us with information in sufficient time for your tax return to be completed and submitted by the appropriate deadline.
(e) to forward to us on receipt copies of all H.M. Revenue & Customs statements of account, PAYE coding notices, notices of assessment, letters and other communications received from the H.M. Revenue & Customs to enable us to deal with them as may be necessary within the statutory time limits; and
(f) to keep us informed about significant changes in your circumstances if they are likely to affect your tax position.
5. OTHER SERVICES AND GENERAL TAX ADVICE
5.1 We will be pleased to assist you generally in tax matters if you so require. To enable us to do this you will need to instruct us in good time.
5.2 Because tax rules change frequently you must ask us to review any advice already given if a transaction is delayed, or if an apparently similar transaction is to be undertaken.
5.3 It is our policy to confirm in writing advice upon which you may wish to rely.
6. INVESTMENT ADVICE
We do not offer investment advice, but can recommend a trusted party to provide this service if required.
7. EXCLUDED SERVICES
7.1 You will continue to deal with other matters required by law, although we will be pleased to advise on such matters under seperate engagement. These matters include:
Pay As You Earn including year end returns and matters relating to your employees;
forms P11D;
obligations under IR35;
returns for sub-contractors;
VAT returns; and
inheritance tax returns.
7.2 You will deal with claims and any related correspondence, appeals or other matters in respect of working tax credits and child tax credits, unless we are instructed to do so.
8. PROFESSIONAL RULES AND PRACTICE GUIDELINES
We will observe the bye-laws, regulations and ethical guidelines of the Institute of Financial Accountants and accept instructions to act for you on the basis that we will act in accordance with those guidelines. In particular you give us authority to correct H.M. Revenue & Customs errors. A copy of these guidelines is available for your inspection in our offices.
9. COMMISSIONS OR OTHER BENEFITS
In some circumstances, commissions or other benefits may become payable to us in respect of transactions which we arrange for you, in which case you will be notified in writing of the amount and terms of payment. The fees that would otherwise be payable by you as described will take into account the benefit to us of such amounts. You consent to such commission or other benefits being retained by us without our being liable to account to you for any such amounts.
10. CLIENT MONIES
10.1 We may, from time to time, hold money on your behalf. Such money will be held in trust in a client bank account, which is segregated from the firm’s funds.
10.2 We reserve the right to deduct any outstanding fees from client monies held before we forward the remainder to its ultimately intended recipient.
11. RETENTION OF RECORDS
11.1 During the course of our work we will collect information from you and others acting on your behalf and any original documents will be made available for collection following preparation of your return. You should retain them for 6 years from the 31 January following the end of the tax year. This period may be extended if the H.M. Revenue & Customs enquire into your tax return.
11.2 Whilst certain documents may legally belong to you, we intend to destroy correspondence and other papers that we store which are more than seven years old, other than documents which we consider to be of continuing significance. You must tell us if you require retention of a particular document.
11.3 We reserve the right to charge for storage of records, remaining uncollected for more than 2 months after submission of your return, and completion of all related work.
12. REGULATORY REQUIREMENTS
We reserve the right to disclose our files to regulatory bodies in the exercise of their powers.
13. QUALITY OF SERVICE
13.1 We aim to provide a high quality of service at all times. If you would like to discuss with us how our service could be improved or if you are dissatisfied with the service you are receiving please let us know by contacting your account manager.
13.2 We undertake to look into any complaint carefully and promptly and to do all we can to explain the position to you. If we do not answer your complaint to your satisfaction you may take up the matter with the Institute of Financial Accountants.
14. FEES
14.1 Our charges are computed on the basis of fees for the time spent on your affairs (which depends on the levels of skill and responsibility involved) and disbursements incurred in connection with the engagement.
14.2 We may offer a fixed fee quotation, to cover all services included under this engagement, for the coming year. This fee will be reviewed on an annual basis and may be adjusted if your circumstances change significantly.
14.3 If work is required which is outside the scope of this letter, for example dealing with H.M. Revenue & Customs enquiries into the tax return, this will be a separate engagement for which additional fees will be chargeable. We will issue invoices at regular intervals during the course of the year. We will add value added tax, if applicable, at the current rate.
14.4 Our invoices are payable on presentation, unless we are due to receive a tax repayment on your behalf. We reserve the right to charge interest at ½% per month in the case of overdue accounts. We may terminate our engagement and cease acting if payment of any fees billed is unduly delayed. However, it is not our intention to use these arrangements in a way which is unfair or unreasonable.
14.5 Any queries concerning an invoice should be raised within 30 days of issue.
15. LIMITATION OF LIABILITY
15.1 The advice which we give to you is for your sole use and does not constitute advice to any third party to whom you may communicate it.
15.2 We will provide the professional services outlined in this letter with reasonable care and skill. However, we will not be responsible for any losses, penalties, surcharges, interest or additional tax liabilities arising from the supply by you or others of incorrect or incomplete information, or from the failure by you or others to supply any appropriate information or your failure to act on our advice or respond promptly to communications from us or the tax authorities.
15.3 E-mail may be used to enable us to communicate with you. As with other means of delivery this carries with it the risk of inadvertent misdirection or non-delivery. It is the responsibility of the recipient to carry out a virus check on any attachments received.
15.4 Our aggregate liability to you or any other party, of whatever nature, whether in contract, tort or otherwise for any losses whatsoever and howsoever caused arising from or in any way connected with the services described within this engagement letter shall not exceed 100% of fees charged in a year including interest.
16. ELECTRONIC COMMUNICATION
As internet communications are capable of data corruption we do not accept any responsibility for changes made to such communications after their despatch. For this reason it may be inappropriate to rely on advice contained in an e-mail without obtaining written confirmation of it. All risks connected with sending commercially-sensitive information relating to your business are borne by you and are not our responsibility. If you do not accept this risk, you should notify us in writing that e-mail is not an acceptable means of communication.
17. APPLICABLE LAW
This engagement letter is governed by, and construed in accordance with, English law. The Courts of England will have exclusive jurisdiction in relation to any claim, dispute or difference concerning this engagement letter and any matter arising from it. Each party irrevocably waives any right it may have to object to any action being brought in those courts, to claim that the action has been brought in an inappropriate forum, or to claim that those courts do not have jurisdiction.
18. DATA PROTECTION ACT 1998
To enable us to discharge the services agreed under this engagement, and for other related purposes including updating and enhancing client records, analysis for management purposes and statutory returns, crime prevention and legal and regulatory compliance, we may obtain, use, process and disclose personal data about you. You have a right of access, under data protection legislation, to the personal data that we hold about you. For the purposes of the Data Protection Act 1998, the Data Controller in relation to personal data supplied about you is Elliott Bristow.
19. MONEY LAUNDERING REGULATIONS 2007 AND
PROCEEDS OF CRIME ACT 2002
We are regulated by the Institute of Financial Accountants in relation to the above legislation. This means that we haev a responsibility to report any suspicious transaction or activity uncovered in the process of carrying out our duties or otherwise. Should we discover such a transaction or activity, it is the duty of our Money Laundering Reporting Offices (MLRO) to report it to the relevant authorities without notification to the client. Our MLRO is Elliott Bristow.
20. CONTRACTS (RIGHTS OF THIRD PARTIES) ACT 1999
A person who is not party to this agreement shall have no right under the Contracts (Rights of Third Parties) Act 1999 to enforce any term of this agreement. This clause does not effect any right or remedy of any person which exists or is available otherwise than pursuant to that Act.
© Copyright 2008 - Robert Lewis Group Limited