Is there a form to fill out to de-authorise your tax agent?

[7specialgems]

Sacked my accountant today.

Had a mooch around HMRC online but can't see anything that allows me to notify them that my accountant has been binned.

I see there's a 64-8 form to instruct a new agent, how about binning the last one?

Yes NLUK I have googled...

[Kenny@MyAccountantFriend]

If you appoint a new accountant when they authorise themselves it will replace the old accountants and they will no longer be able to access your records.

I am not sure why the old accountants would want to access any of your records if they are no longer acting for you though.

[ContrataxLtd]

As Kenny said, when the new one is authorised it replaces the old one. This is only good if you are getting a new accountant though.

If you are concerned about the old one still having authorisation either phone or write to HMRC (you will need to do this for each tax they had authorisation for). The problem here is that it will take you ages on hold to each different department before you can speak to HMRC so writing may seem best. However, HMRC like to take a few months to process post at the moment so it's going to be a slow process either way.

Your old accountant should be able to delete you from their authorised lists electronically but experience says this doesn't always work and you are relying the old accountant to actually do this.

Martin
Contratax Ltd

[northernladuk]

Yes NLUK I have googled...

Have spoken to your.... Oh hang on.. Forget that.

Have to ask why did you sack your accountant before either having another one lined up or at least speaking to another one first?

[AJ1982]

Go here and login... Government Gateway - Home

It is same username and password for me as HMRC.

Under "Manage Services" once logged in, you can remove your agent for each service.

Im not sure how official this is though. Worth a try.

[Simeon]

Where in HMRC Services is this found?

Under "Manage Services" once logged in, you can remove your agent for each service.

When logged into my HMRC gov gateway and in the Manage Services section I see my registered service, and on the left Manage Administrators and Manage Assistants. Clicking on any of these or the other links does not reveal the previous accountant's name or association with my self-assessment tax account.

It's possible she cancelled it, but I'd like to be sure. If you know where this should appear if it still exists I'd be greatly appreciative of that tidbit of info!

Regards,
Simeon

[Maslins]

Afraid I don't know from the client's side. I would've hoped there would be an option within your HMRC portal...but then I appreciate that's changing so much these days that every day it seems everything moves around and links that once you could rely on have disappeared.

Sort of what Martin said, I know from the accountant's side that we can very easily delete a client from the list in our portal from a given tax. However we've noticed whilst it does remove them from appearing online, it seems that does not actually stop us being the authorised agent. Ie we'll still get copies of lots of bits of post. Quite frustrating when you part company (whether on good or bad terms) and for years after you're still receiving lots of unwanted post!

More generally though I'd agree with Kenny. Even if you've left on slightly bad terms (your use of the word "sacked" implies it!) then I can't imagine any accountant would waste their time and risk come back (as well as simply being mega unprofessional) by mucking about with your tax affairs out of spite. Therefore I wouldn't spend much time stressing about how to remove their access.

[AJ1982]

When logged into my HMRC gov gateway and in the Manage Services section I see my registered service, and on the left Manage Administrators and Manage Assistants. Clicking on any of these or the other links does not reveal the previous accountant's name or association with my self-assessment tax account.

It's possible she cancelled it, but I'd like to be sure. If you know where this should appear if it still exists I'd be greatly appreciative of that tidbit of info!

Regards,
Simeon

Just checked myself, mine says "Manage Agents".

Possibly if this option is not there, you may be able to assume you have none. Depends how long its been since you removed your accountant.

Was just reading this thread thinking theres some good advice, then realised I posted it originally

[FrontEnder]

Sort of what Martin said, I know from the accountant's side that we can very easily delete a client from the list in our portal from a given tax. However we've noticed whilst it does remove them from appearing online, it seems that does not actually stop us being the authorised agent. Ie we'll still get copies of lots of bits of post. Quite frustrating when you part company (whether on good or bad terms) and for years after you're still receiving lots of unwanted post!

Sounds like HMRC are in serious breach of the data protection act.

[Hex]

Do none of you lot remember Darren Upton?