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A Fee is payable to P Brown & Co for the downloading
of this document by any professional firm of accountants. The fee is payable
under our honesty scheme, whereby this document may be downloaded for £1.00 (
with a minimum payment of £5.00 in a period of one calender month) IP
addresses are recorded for the purposes of monitoring any abuse of this
service. Personal tax return - Letter of Engagement Note .
This is only an example and a specific letter will be sent to each client
upon accepting an engagement Introduction It is both a
requirement of the law relating to the provision of services and also good
professional practice to set out clearly in writing the terms and conditions
upon which we provide you with professional services. This letter
of engagement complies with this requirement. We would request that you
carefully read through this letter to ensure there is no misunderstanding
between us. If you agree to the terms and conditions set out, then please
sign and return the spare copy to us. If there is any point upon which you
require clarification, then please contact us. If, within four weeks, we have
not heard from you or received back the signed copy, we will assume that you
are in agreement with the contents of this letter. This
engagement letter is governed by and construed in accordance with English
Law. The Courts of England will have exclusive jurisdiction in relation to
any claim,dispute or difference concerning this engagement letter and any
matter arising from it. Each party irrevocably waives any right it may have
to object to any action being brought in those courts, to claim that the
action has been brought in an inappropriate forum , or to claim that those
courts do not have jurisdiction. Except as may
be otherwise provided by law , any liability to any third party arising under
the Contracts (Rights of Third Parties ) Act 1999 is hereby excluded. Services to
be provided by us. Part 1- We
agree to :- deal with all
taxation matters of a routine nature arising in connection with your affairs
arising out of the Self Assessment procedures and to comply with the filing
requirements under the Self Assessment regulations. This is subject to your
having supplied us with all information relevant to your affairs at least one
month before the due date for filing any return, and supplying us with a
signed return , after we have prepared the necessary figures, at least one
week before the due date for filing the return. NOTE – if you
are using a fixed fee service the above paragraph is amended to include the
particular services offered by the basic service, standard service, premium
service or comprehensive service as appropriate It should be
noted that we can only negotiate with the Inland Revenue on the basis of
information supplied by yourself, or third parties acting on your authority. This service
excludes any investigation into your affairs by the Inland Revenue, H M
Customs and Excise or the NIC authorities, and also excludes enquiries , (
except enquiries of a minor or routine nature) raised upon your return under
the formal enquiry provisions which would be the subject of a separate letter
of engagement. In
particular, this service includes :- (i) preparing
and submitting ,subject to your agreement, the Self Assessment Income Tax
Return, on the basis of information provided to us by yourself. (ii) We will,
without reference to yourself, acting as your agents deal with all
correspondence, assessments, payment demands, including lodging, where
necessary appeals and claims, and applications for postponement of payment.
(This clause will be excluded under the basic service) (iii) Where
it is necessary in connection with your returns to prepare accounts or
statements of income and expenditure in respect of trading or property
letting we will obtain your approval and submit these to the Inspector of
Taxes with your annual return, but we would reserve the right to charge an
additional fee for preparing any such accounts. Part 2 -
For your part ,you agree :- (1) To comply
with any conditions set out in Part 1 (2)To supply
us with all information in relation to your affairs that we may reasonably
require, or that is relevant to your affairs, promptly and in good order. (3) That
notwithstanding our obligation under this letter of engagement to prepare Tax
Returns, Accounts, etc, you ( and you alone) are responsible for the accuracy
and completeness of your accounting records or other records and that all
liabilities, howsoever arising, as a result of errors, inaccuracies,
omissions, commissions or a lack of clarity in your records, insofar as they
attach to us, are excluded, unless it can be proved that we had specific
written notice of the inaccuracy or incompleteness of your records. (4) To follow
our advice in relation to the nature of your bookkeeping, accountancy and
other records. (5) To fully
comply with the Self Assessment Regulations in all matters including, in
particular, the requirement to retain all your records, personal and business
for a period of (usually) six years after the end of the tax year involved.
More precise details of the requirements are available upon request. (6) That
nothing in this letter makes us directly or indirectly responsible for the
payment of any taxes. You agree that you remain fully responsible for the
payment of all taxes relating to your affairs. You also agree that no payment
should be made to the Inland Revenue in respect of Income Tax or NIC, without
first having received written advice from ourselves that the sums demanded
are correct. You also agree that any tax demands should be forwarded to us as
soon as possible for checking, in order to minimise the risk of either
interest or penalties. (7) That you
will supply us immediately upon receipt by you with copies of any documents
or notices served upon you by the Inland Revenue Part 3 -
Non Compliance (1) If at any
time you have not fully complied with our advice in relation to your
accounting records or (2) You have
not supplied us with the necessary information to deal with your affairs
within any statutory time limits (and the time limits set out in this letter
of engagement shall be of the essence for the purposes of complying with
statutory time limits) or (3) You have
in any other way by omission or commission made it impracticable for us to
comply with our obligations under this letter of engagement, then, provided
that your standing order payments are not in arrears, or that any other
amounts due to us have been paid in full, we agree to do whatever we can to
assist in rectifying the situation, but subject to our reserving the right to
make a specific charge on a basis to be agreed before any additional work is
undertaken. (4) We must
emphasise the severity of the current rules with regard to interest and
penalties that can be applied by the Inland Revenue , both in relation to
late payment of tax and late submission of returns. The deadlines set out by
law are critical - not even one days grace is allowed. Penalties and interest
can also arise where you have supplied us with incomplete or inaccurate
information upon which we have relied in making estimates of your liabilities
in order to agree payments on account with the Inland Revenue. Part 4 -
Other work Any work of
whatsoever description not included in this letter of engagement shall be the
subject of a separate agreement ,and this letter shall be taken to be a full
and inclusive statement of the matters referred to. We will be
pleased at any time to advise you on any business or taxation matters which
you care to refer to us. Part 5 -
Personnel Taxation work
will normally be undertaken by myself Part 6 -
Fees Our fees are
payable by you immediately upon an account being rendered, which will be
immediately after completion and approval by you of the tax return,
immediately prior to its submission to the Inland Revenue. We have agreed
that the fees payable under this agreement shall be ( see fees under basic,
standard , premium and comprehensive services) . The following
applies only to the basic service The fee under
the basic service is based on your providing us with the necessary
information prior to 31st August in each year, so that the Inland Revenue can
carry out the actual assessing procedures. If the information comes into our
hands after that date, we may miss the deadline of 30th September, and may
have to carry out further computational work , as after the 30th September
the Inland Revenue will not do this on your behalf. If so we would reserve
the right to charge a further fee to represent the further time incurred, or
alternatively charge you at the standard rate. Part 7 -
Retention and destruction of books and papers If you cease
to be a client and if we still hold any books and papers that are your
property, then at the expiry of six years from your ceasing to be a client,
we will write to your last known address inviting you to collect such books
and records. If such books and records are not collected we will, under the
terms of this letter of engagement, be at liberty to destroy any such books
and papers upon the seventh anniversary of your ceasing to be a client. If at any
time while you remain a client , we still hold any books and papers that are
your property where the last entry therein was made no later than six years
earlier, then we will write to your last known address inviting you to
collect such books and records. If such books and records are not collected
we will, under the terms of this letter of engagement, be at liberty to destroy
any such books and papers upon the seventh anniversary of the last entry
therein. All files and
records which are the property of ourselves will be retained in accordance
with our formal file destruction policy which is available for inspection
upon request We apologise
for the length and complexity of this letter ,but there is little point in
skimping an a letter which we hope will be the foundations upon which a long
and mutually rewarding business relationship will be built Yours
sincerely FIRM NAME REF 457
Personal tax return engagement letter Income Tax
Return for the year ended 5th April An aide
memoire of items required for completion of the tax return This note is
not exhaustive and if you consider there is further relevant information ,
then please supply it to us 1. The Self
Assessment Tax Return , together with any relevant correspondence |
Last revised 12/12/02