Late tax returns fine

moondance

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My accountant does my tax returns, I left all my paperwork in to her early Sept, there were no requests for anything further from her but she did tell me there would be a tax bill due to rental income and I moved from UK job to Irish job so tax credits were wrong. All in all she said I'd owe €1530. Shock but ok. THEN today I got my actual tax bill from revenue which was as she said it would be plus €76 late submission of tax return fine. Where do I stand with that? I assumed it was all in before the deadline. Obviously it wasn't but surely the accountant should be liable here?
 
Maybe drop your paperwork in earlier next year?

Too many people expect accountants to work miracles in the busy season when Income Tax, Corporation Tax, Capital Gains Tax, Capital Acquisitions Tax and a plethora of Companies Office deadlines all more or less coincide. We try our best to keep everyone happy but the sheer volume of returns means that even with the best will in the world it is inevitable that some deadlines will be missed, and your return stands that risk if you leave it to the last month or two.

I don't know any accountant whose business isn't open the other 10 months of the year, but that fact seems to sail over some people's heads.
 
Tommy,

That's a bit harsh. The paperwork was dropped in circa two months before the deadline (early September vs 10 November). The accountant should at least cover the cost of the surcharge.
 
Your call Gordon, but I disagree wholeheartedly for the reasons I've stated. Long past time that accountants stood up for ourselves. We are not doormats. Neither are our staff, who sometimes endure outrageous levels of pressure and utterly unrealistic expectations from customers and State bodies.
 
How would the customer know what sort of pressure the accountant is under? It would be ok if the accountant signalled in advance that there was a chance the deadline might be missed. If they don't want to be a doormat isn't that the time to dig their heels in, before they take money for a service they fail to provide? At that point the customer still has two months to try to figure out their own tax return if they so wish.
 
My accountant could have let me know that they wouldn't get it done on time and I could have gone elsewhere. But yes, I'll have my paperwork in very early next year to another accountant. I'm just wondering should I go back to the accountant to say anything or is there any point?!
 
The dogs on the street know that, in fairness.
As a customer of this accountant for the last 6 years, there's never been a problem before and September is when I always hand my figures in. However, I take your point that it's a busy time for accountants but if you can't cope with the work maybe let the customer know. A bit of communication instead of unhappy customers.
 
You're certain the fine relates to the fact that you hadn't paid the tax this year ? Just a thought.
 
As a customer of this accountant for the last 6 years, there's never been a problem before and September is when I always hand my figures in. However, I take your point that it's a busy time for accountants but if you can't cope with the work maybe let the customer know. A bit of communication instead of unhappy customers.

The problem is that when accountants and staff are struggling to cope, communication tend to suffer too. And customers are under pressure too. Its a vicious circle.
 
The dogs on the street know that, in fairness.
I certainly wouldn't know it, but then I don't use an accountant. Even for someone who does, it seems unreasonable to expect them to know how busy the accountant is. Would they be expected to know, for example, that September 1st is ok, but September 10th isn't? To take an equally ridiculous example, suppose your boiler broke down because the maintenance guy did a substandard service. Suppose he then told you he was under pressure because it was November and you should have known he was busy. How is the accountant any different?

The problem is that when accountants and staff are struggling to cope, communication tend to suffer too. And customers are under pressure too. Its a vicious circle.
Sounds like the accountant is working his staff too hard, and needs to employ more. It also sounds like you just need a one-sentence warning to anyone delivering their accounts after the start of September that the deadline might be missed. I'm going to take a guess that you wouldn't do this because you'd quite obviously lose business.

I don't mean to sound harsh, but if you take on business there is an implied commitment that you're going to carry it out with costing your customer money for something that's your fault, even if it's just your failure to issue an appropriate caution. An airline tells you in the small print that a confirmed booking doesn't mean they can definitely carry you. But at least they have to compensate you if they don't.
 
An airline tells you in the small print that a confirmed booking doesn't mean they can definitely carry you. But at least they have to compensate you if they don't.
Maybe that's the way to go, with stepped and occasionally sharp price increases every time an available pre-deadline slot is filled.

An airline certainly won't take a booking if the customer fails to supply all the information requested of them, and will eventually and cheerfully confiscate some or all of the customer's money without recourse if they're later found to have supplied erroneous information, even inadvertently. And if the flight is missed, the customer won't get a refund either.

You might be better off paying the odd surcharge than being faced with a service model like this. Be careful what you wish for.
 
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It sounds reasonable to charge more for later slots -- as long as the accountant is taking the hit if the deadline is missed. It would automatically communicate to customers that the accountant is busier as the deadline approaches, and incentivise them to take earlier cheaper slots. That would spread the load for the accountant too.

An accountant vying for extra business would also be free to not charge more for later slots. But again, it would be at their own risk.

The only dodgy sounding model is where the customer takes the hit for a risk they weren't made aware of and couldn't reasonably infer.
 
We write to our clients in March each year then again in May and again in September and in most cases following a number of calls they eventually bring in their records in November.

We do all the returns for the clients each year on time, even the ones who come in on 10 November but Tommy's point is well made perhaps we should say to clients that refuse to bring in their records until the last minute to go elsewhere.
 
As an accountant in practice, I find this a regrettable outcome. You left the information in two months before the deadline. It should have been prepared and filed well in advance of the deadline. Whatever about your tax situation, from his own business point of view he should be aiming to shorten the time between work coming in and the payment for said work coming in so that the amount of money tied up in debtors and work in progress is reduced to a tolerable level (of say two months overall, which includes the time waiting for payment). There should have been no surcharge and the fact that there was a surcharge should have been flagged and the cost deducted from your bill without you asking. If you provide a professional service, be professional. Yes it would be great for information to come in earlier in the year but to suggest this is the reason for the late filing is not good enough as you submitted the information two months before the deadline. Mistakes can happen but when they do the accountant should be professional and admit the mistake and not hide behind a "oh I was busy, you only gave me two months to prepare it excuse". Bet he doesnt take two months to raise his invoice. Thankfully the surcharge was not many thousands. Good luck with next year's tax return and suggest you file it early so you know the position and if you have money to pay you then have many months to save for the balance payable.
 
Just to update you all. I spoke with my accountant today and she told me she submitted my returns online on the day of the deadline but the revenue system crashed so it was a day late and revenue are waiving the late return charge. I should have an updated statement this week. So all is well that ends well. Many thanks for all your replies, I obviously jumped the gun a bit .
 
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