I am hoping one of the regular accountants on the board or anyone else with experience can proffer some advice regarding my situation.
In January and before the deadline, my accountant prepared and submitted my 08/09 Self Assessment accounts. Based on his figures which I reviewed, I paid my tax liability for the year as well as the relevant amount on account for the 09/10 tax year.
On Monday, I called my HMRC office regarding another matter and at the end of the call the lady mentioned she wished to discuss my Self Assessment with me to which I said sure, no problem.
She advised me that, according to HMRC calculations, I had not paid enough tax to cover my 08/09 tax liability let alone the amount on account for 09/10.
I advised her I was very surprised by this but would investigate once I received my statement from them which, at that point, I still hadn't received.
She advised me it had already been sent out to me but gave no indication of when and I got the impression it was within the last week. She suggested I should receive it within the next few days and that I would have until the 15 March to review and either pay the outstanding amount or appeal. Working on the assumption I would receive the statement by mid-week, this didn't sound un-reasonable as my accounts for that year were very simple so any discrepancy between my accountants and HMRC's figures would be easy to trace.
Fast forward to today and I still have not received the statement from HMRC so I called them back to request they send out another copy and to also ask they extend the appeal deadline by a couple of weeks. The lady I spoke to was extremely un-helpful and reluctantly agreed to send out another copy of the statement but refused to extend the appeal deadline as the original statement had been sent out on the 21 February. I advised her this was the first time I had been advised of the actual date the statement had been sent out which further concerned me as it was now looking likely it had gone missing in the post.
As such, I was un-able to investigate the discrepancy adequately without the statement and that a request for an extension for appeal by a few weeks was not un-reasonable given the circumstance. She pointedly refused and also refused to put me through to a manger as they were all in meetings.
I am now in a situation where I cannot investigate the discrepancy or appeal without the statement and wondered how best I can proceed further with this.
I was thinking of writing and sending a letter to HMRC now detailing all of this as well as requesting another appeal extension. In this way, at least my concerns/issues will be recorded in writing as well.
Another side concern is by making a small issue of this, whether it will potentially highlight my tax affairs for further investigation.
Any appropriate advice appreciated.
BTW, if you are going to reply that my accountant is crap or have a similar pop, please don't bother as I am fully aware of this and was, ironically, due to change him this year anyway once I received my SA statement. Please only reply if you have any advice/guidance on this particular scenario and not on how my accountant or I could let this happen!
In January and before the deadline, my accountant prepared and submitted my 08/09 Self Assessment accounts. Based on his figures which I reviewed, I paid my tax liability for the year as well as the relevant amount on account for the 09/10 tax year.
On Monday, I called my HMRC office regarding another matter and at the end of the call the lady mentioned she wished to discuss my Self Assessment with me to which I said sure, no problem.
She advised me that, according to HMRC calculations, I had not paid enough tax to cover my 08/09 tax liability let alone the amount on account for 09/10.
I advised her I was very surprised by this but would investigate once I received my statement from them which, at that point, I still hadn't received.
She advised me it had already been sent out to me but gave no indication of when and I got the impression it was within the last week. She suggested I should receive it within the next few days and that I would have until the 15 March to review and either pay the outstanding amount or appeal. Working on the assumption I would receive the statement by mid-week, this didn't sound un-reasonable as my accounts for that year were very simple so any discrepancy between my accountants and HMRC's figures would be easy to trace.
Fast forward to today and I still have not received the statement from HMRC so I called them back to request they send out another copy and to also ask they extend the appeal deadline by a couple of weeks. The lady I spoke to was extremely un-helpful and reluctantly agreed to send out another copy of the statement but refused to extend the appeal deadline as the original statement had been sent out on the 21 February. I advised her this was the first time I had been advised of the actual date the statement had been sent out which further concerned me as it was now looking likely it had gone missing in the post.
As such, I was un-able to investigate the discrepancy adequately without the statement and that a request for an extension for appeal by a few weeks was not un-reasonable given the circumstance. She pointedly refused and also refused to put me through to a manger as they were all in meetings.
I am now in a situation where I cannot investigate the discrepancy or appeal without the statement and wondered how best I can proceed further with this.
I was thinking of writing and sending a letter to HMRC now detailing all of this as well as requesting another appeal extension. In this way, at least my concerns/issues will be recorded in writing as well.
Another side concern is by making a small issue of this, whether it will potentially highlight my tax affairs for further investigation.
Any appropriate advice appreciated.
BTW, if you are going to reply that my accountant is crap or have a similar pop, please don't bother as I am fully aware of this and was, ironically, due to change him this year anyway once I received my SA statement. Please only reply if you have any advice/guidance on this particular scenario and not on how my accountant or I could let this happen!
Comment