I was wondering if I could get some advice please.
I've been using the same accountant for many years now and have run into a problem regarding payment of preliminary income tax to the Revenue - I'm a sole trader / small business. I only ever made a preliminary income tax payment which was in my first year of business (as advised by my accountant) and then made a loss or very little profit for several years running... however upon making a profit in subsequent years the accountant *never* advised about making a preliminary income tax payment as part of the tax return (or anything about the possible negative outcomes of not making it).
Last month I got letter from the Revenue with a significant fine for "interest charge on late payment of preliminary income tax". I rang my accountant about it at the time and he washed his hands of it and said it was my problem (and ultimately it is, of course) - his take on it is that I've been in business for a good few years now and should know about these matters.
So my question is, the accountant does my tax returns...preliminary tax is part of that process as far as I'm concerned, does he not have responsibility in this area?
I've been using the same accountant for many years now and have run into a problem regarding payment of preliminary income tax to the Revenue - I'm a sole trader / small business. I only ever made a preliminary income tax payment which was in my first year of business (as advised by my accountant) and then made a loss or very little profit for several years running... however upon making a profit in subsequent years the accountant *never* advised about making a preliminary income tax payment as part of the tax return (or anything about the possible negative outcomes of not making it).
Last month I got letter from the Revenue with a significant fine for "interest charge on late payment of preliminary income tax". I rang my accountant about it at the time and he washed his hands of it and said it was my problem (and ultimately it is, of course) - his take on it is that I've been in business for a good few years now and should know about these matters.
So my question is, the accountant does my tax returns...preliminary tax is part of that process as far as I'm concerned, does he not have responsibility in this area?