When things go wrong
What to do when a claim is reduced, a fee is disputed, an adviser has to be changed, a claim needs correcting, a penalty arrives or a complaint is needed. General information, with the advice to take first.
General information only. Take professional advice before you contact a tax authority, withhold a fee or end a contract.
When an engagement ends with a claim paid, there is nothing more to say. When one does not, the questions are the same whatever went wrong: what does the law of your country say, what does your engagement letter say, and what should you do first. These pages take each situation in turn.
They are general information. None of them can see your letter, your claim or your correspondence, and the pages on correcting a claim and on penalties say so plainly.
Before you do anything
Three things help in every situation. Keep every document: the engagement letter, the claim as filed, the working papers if you have them, and every email. Put your questions to the adviser in writing, calmly, and keep the replies. And separate the questions: who pays any tax is one question, what the adviser owes you is another, and whether to keep working with them is a third. Mixing them makes each harder to settle.
- Claim reduced on reviewA tax authority has reviewed the claim and reduced it. What happens next, who pays what, what your contract says about the fee and the help, and what to do first.
- Fee disputesA disagreement over what is owed: the amount, what it was a percentage of, whether it is due after a reduction, extras or an exit fee. How to work through it, and why to take advice before withholding anything.
- Switching advisersChanging adviser within the terms of your contract: the notice period, the renewal date, a claim in progress, a review in progress, and getting your records across to the new firm.
- Correcting a claimYou have found, or been told, that a claim already filed was wrong. What the options are in general terms, why to take advice before contacting the tax authority, and where the official guidance is.
- If you are charged a penaltyA penalty has been charged on the company after a review or a correction. What the company owes, what your contract may let you recover from the adviser, and what to do first.
- Complaints about an adviserHow to raise a complaint about an adviser's conduct or service: the adviser first, then a professional body or regulator where there is one, then the tax authority where it has a route. In general terms, with links to each country's page.
- Getting independent adviceWhen a second opinion is worth having, who can give one, what to give them and what to ask. A short guide to getting advice that is not from the adviser whose work is in question.
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