Being taken to court by Revenue

Hi,

My partner is being taken to court next month by the Revenue for non-filing of tax returns for the last 3 years. She had started a small online business as a sole trader which failed and believed her then accountant had let the Revenue know she was no longer trading. She has a new accountant who is letting the revenue know that she was not trading for the last 3 years.

The court date, however, is set. My question is - does my partner need legal representation when attending court, or will this be a simple matter perhaps involving a small fine?

many thanks,
Fivefifty

I would personally take legal representation to court for this and I am an accountant. Make sure that your partners new accountant files all the outstanding tax returns ASAP e.g. , VAT, PAYE, Income tax etc and obtain copies of them. If the outstanding returns are filed prior to the court date it will be in your partners favour. make sure copies of the relevant returns are available to your legal team for the court if needed.

Thank you shinners for the advice.

Can anyone recommend a solicitor (Dublin area) for this matter?

Would anyone have any idea of the potential fees charged by a solicitor in dealing with a case like this. (I realise this is difficult to estimate but at the moment I don't even have a ballpark figure so any info would help greatly.)

Many thanks.

Has your partner contacted Revenue yet to clarify the situation? They may be prepared to drop the matter in advance of the court date if requested to do so.

I believe her accountant is in contact with Revenue. Do you think it a good idea for her to personally contact them also? The court(district) date is in 3 weeks.
Appreciate your reply.

fivefifty said:

I believe her accountant is in contact with Revenue. Do you think it a good idea for her to personally contact them also?

Click to expand...

If her accountant hasn't already requested Revenue to drop the proceedings, on the basis of the facts you outline above, I think its definitely worthwhile for either her or the accountant to do so asap. It mightn't yield anything, but there is a chance that it might get rid of the entire problem.