Have I been Conned?

[SueEllen]

I wouldn't be asking on here if there were tens of thousands at stake. You want to go to a solicitor and see if you have a case. Get yourself to a lawyer pronto.

Solicitors are expensive and a few of them will say what they think you want to hear like this "tax advisor" to ensure they get a good fee.

So while it's a case of shutting the stable door after the horse has bolted you can still do some basic research to see if there are other ways to get some of your money back.

For example if the "tax advisor" is in a professional body or regulated then there will be a complaints procedure he would have to adhere to. If you make a written complaint which traps him on a technicality i.e. he didn't follow certain procedures in offering his services, then you can get some of your money back.

However spud5706 didn't say what documents he was given and what questions he asked................

[MarillionFan]

Frankly I would have given you the same advice for £3000.

[spud5706]

Thanks for the replys,

The reason I didn't check this out more was that he was referred to me by my accountant so I assumed he was a legit guy, when we had our meeting he said he could get all my money out from the compnay at 10%, there was no mention of having to pay corporation tax on top of this figure so I was deliberately misled, if I am supposed to know that myself then what is the point of going to a tax advisor?

The people saying I paid for advice so its my fault I don't think are correct because you are not allowed to tell someone one thing and then once you have the money it turns out to be something else, that is misselling a product/service, its like going into a shop and seeing a box for a 50 inch widescreen TV and you get it home and unwrap it and it turns out to be a 1930s black and white portable.

I think I'm going to go to the small claims court with this and try and get my money back, if this fails I will make sure anyone googling his company finds out about his unethical and poor tax advice.

regards

[spud5706]

And that's correct. You can get all YOUR money out and only pay 10% tax. But what made you think the company wouldn't also have to pay corporation tax on its profits?

It's quite normal for companies to keep retained profits from previous years that have had the CT paid (or will be paid), and it's that situation that he's addressed, quite reasonably because anybody in the position of company director would surely have a basic understanding of what a company is and how it works.

I don't think you have anything to complain about. £6000 for something you could have easily found out in half an hour by yourself, yes sure, but that was your choice.

The money was from the current year, no corporation tax has been paid on it yet so when I went to the guy he said he could get all the money out for 10%, NOT 10% + corp tax, this is why I have been missold.

[Fred Bloggs]

Thanks for the replys,

The reason I didn't check this out more was that he was referred to me by my accountant so I assumed he was a legit guy, when we had our meeting he said he could get all my money out from the compnay at 10%, there was no mention of having to pay corporation tax on top of this figure so I was deliberately misled, if I am supposed to know that myself then what is the point of going to a tax advisor?

The people saying I paid for advice so its my fault I don't think are correct because you are not allowed to tell someone one thing and then once you have the money it turns out to be something else, that is misselling a product/service, its like going into a shop and seeing a box for a 50 inch widescreen TV and you get it home and unwrap it and it turns out to be a 1930s black and white portable.

I think I'm going to go to the small claims court with this and try and get my money back, if this fails I will make sure anyone googling his company finds out about his unethical and poor tax advice.

regards

I think there has to be an ethics issue here. The accountant should have told you what the "adviser" told you as part of his normal duty of care, IMHO. If he is a chartered accountant, register a complaint with his professional body. The accountant should be advising you on paying the correct tax, not more, not less. By passing you on to a 3rd party to only tell you what he should have told you in the first place is of concern, IMO.

[Wanderer]

I think there has to be an ethics issue here. The accountant should have told you what the "adviser" told you as part of his normal duty of care, IMHO. If he is a chartered accountant, register a complaint with his professional body. The accountant should be advising you on paying the correct tax, not more, not less. By passing you on to a 3rd party to only tell you what he should have told you in the first place is of concern, IMO.

I agree - I can't believe the accountant recommended this advisor to you. You need to ask your accountant some hard questions. As SueEllen says, you are probably much better off filing a formal complaint against the advisor and your accountant rather than getting a lawyer involved who will just take more money off you.

I'd give the advisor an ultimatum and if they refuse to back down then start their complaints procedure. Tell the accountant that you are bringing them into this as well and you will be taking a formal complaint against them unless this gets settled in your favour.

Almost anyone here could have told you about ESC-C16, certainly your accountant will know about it and could do it all for you for a few hundred pounds. However, if you have made it clear to the advisor that you want to keep trading then this option is definitely not suitable.

[stek]

....when we had our meeting he said he could get all my money out from the compnay at 10%....

Your money yes, but not that owed to HMRC, you get 0% of that!

[SueEllen]

I think I'm going to go to the small claims court with this and try and get my money back

I would do what Wanderer suggested - he's even nicely given you a technical issue that you probably can complain on.

Going to the small claims court doesn't necessarily mean you will get your money back and it's likely to open up a whole can of worms as there are lots of ways people can delay and frustrate the process.

Also you can't complain to professional bodies without giving the person you are complaining about a chance to resolve the complaint first.

So make a step-by-step plan of how you are going to proceed.


Also many businesses of all sizes and types have a habit of "not receiving" complaint letters, emails and faxes and denying phone calls. So it's important to make sure all letters/emails you write have the title "Complaint" on them and sent to them by recorded signed for post, and you all emails are acknowledged within 1 working day before sending a letter.

if this fails I will make sure anyone googling his company finds out about his unethical and poor tax advice.

Finally lots of people who set up complaint websites, or even complain on forums like this about agencies are taken to task by the company they are complaining about. Even if you are anonymous certain details will give you away.

If they are lucky their complaint is resolved and they have to put up some disclaimer about how helpful the company was (there are a few threads on these forums like this) , but if they are unlucky they start receiving solicitors letters with threats of being sued for defamation.

[MarillionFan]

The money was from the current year, no corporation tax has been paid on it yet so when I went to the guy he said he could get all the money out for 10%, NOT 10% + corp tax, this is why I have been missold.

Just incredible. Shakes head.

[spud5706]

I agree - I can't believe the accountant recommended this advisor to you. You need to ask your accountant some hard questions. As SueEllen says, you are probably much better off filing a formal complaint against the advisor and your accountant rather than getting a lawyer involved who will just take more money off you.

I'd give the advisor an ultimatum and if they refuse to back down then start their complaints procedure. Tell the accountant that you are bringing them into this as well and you will be taking a formal complaint against them unless this gets settled in your favour.

Almost anyone here could have told you about ESC-C16, certainly your accountant will know about it and could do it all for you for a few hundred pounds. However, if you have made it clear to the advisor that you want to keep trading then this option is definitely not suitable.

Thanks for the advice.

Your money yes, but not that owed to HMRC, you get 0% of that!

Yes I know that now but that was never explained to me, he told me all the money in my account could be taken out by just paying 10% not 30%.

Just incredible. Shakes head.

Is that a shake of the head at me or the advice I was given?

Obviously I know nothing about tax which is why I went to an advisor so how I am supposed to know corporation tax is also payable when the advisor told me all I would have to pay is 10% on the money in my account.