Income tax: Erosion of Personal Allowance for incomes over £100k

[Lance]

Thanks Lance. Unfortunately, it was for TY 16/17. I specifically told the accountant that I may not want to take a full dividend that year if it worked out more tax efficient, and asked him to advise on that.

I think my next step is to write a letter of complaint asking the firm to put their insurers on notice to expect a claim for professional negligence, for failing to follow my instructions and failing to exercise reasonable care in the performance of his duties.

Forget it. Just sack them. It’s too late and how are you going to prove negligence anyway?

[malvolio]

Forget it. Just sack them. It’s too late and how are you going to prove negligence anyway?

Agreed. And at the end of the day tax is your problem, nobody else's. You can claim poor advice perhaps, but ultimately it's your responsibility.

Look on the bright side.. You now know a lot more than you did and won't make that mistake again.

[MrButton]

What these guys said ^

It staggers me what I read on here sometimes - someone can earn £100k+ so must be relatively smart and not understand their tax liabilities or be able to do any research on how to run a business.

[Michael at BI Accountancy]

My question is, would you expect your accountant to tell you about this £100k "tax bracket" before finalising the YE accounts and personal tax return?

Should your accountant of advised you of this?... 100%.

Should they have advised you before finalising the YE accounts and SA?...Yes but at this stage it's already too late!

Really you should have been advised this when you first started out, you should be working with your accountant to make sure your tax efficient and aware of any rules that could effect this.

[oilboil]

Is the accountant wrong - probably

Can you prove it - probably not

Do you trust them - yes - stick with them and pay more attention
Do you trust them - no - bin them and get someone else

Remember these guys are advisers - it is always your job to make sure you are aware of the laws and requirements - its part of your requirements to hold office as a director

The fact they gave you duff advice is bad; the fact you didn't research this and just blindly accepted it is unforgivable