Quick question.
As a contractor, I work with an accountant who sends me monthly wages slips then quarterly the amount we can take out of the company if we want to. I've worked like this since 2002.
I received notification I had a weeks overpayment from an old contract (Dec 2014) in November this year. It was a self billing contract, so we didn't issue invoices. We'd not have been aware of the overpayment, being that it would have been the end of March when we got the amount from the accountant.
Now's the tricky part. We've now crossed a reporting period, so I have paid corp tax on this money and obviously VAT (although I am flat rate) and any income/dividend tax.
They've admitted I filled in my timesheet correctly as zero hours for the week and that this was their mistake, but they're asking for the full amount, which would leave me, effectively, £1k out of pocket. I am not trying it on, nor trying to absolve myself of any obligations, and have gone to them with a preliminary, without prejudice, offer to take into account my losses were I to pay them back in full.
What's the legal position here? I genuinely didn't know I'd been overpaid, am willing to come to a deal where I don't profit from it, but they're saying they want it in full.
I've instructed the accountant to close the company down,a s there's nothing in it currently anyway - Is this too nuclear? I have offered to repay the profit I have made form their mistake, I think that's morally the correct thing to do, but I am reluctant to pay it out in full and take a £1k loss.
As a contractor, I work with an accountant who sends me monthly wages slips then quarterly the amount we can take out of the company if we want to. I've worked like this since 2002.
I received notification I had a weeks overpayment from an old contract (Dec 2014) in November this year. It was a self billing contract, so we didn't issue invoices. We'd not have been aware of the overpayment, being that it would have been the end of March when we got the amount from the accountant.
Now's the tricky part. We've now crossed a reporting period, so I have paid corp tax on this money and obviously VAT (although I am flat rate) and any income/dividend tax.
They've admitted I filled in my timesheet correctly as zero hours for the week and that this was their mistake, but they're asking for the full amount, which would leave me, effectively, £1k out of pocket. I am not trying it on, nor trying to absolve myself of any obligations, and have gone to them with a preliminary, without prejudice, offer to take into account my losses were I to pay them back in full.
What's the legal position here? I genuinely didn't know I'd been overpaid, am willing to come to a deal where I don't profit from it, but they're saying they want it in full.
I've instructed the accountant to close the company down,a s there's nothing in it currently anyway - Is this too nuclear? I have offered to repay the profit I have made form their mistake, I think that's morally the correct thing to do, but I am reluctant to pay it out in full and take a £1k loss.
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