I set up a small business a while back. Took on a firm of accountants to do my self-assessment tax return for me, as I assumed that would then be straightforward. They basically don't seem to know what they're doing at all, but they won't admit it. There are issues with my last tax return, which I have raised, and they have now refused to do my next tax return on the basis that I don't trust them.
The main issue is a particular tax relief. They don't seem to have any idea how it works in the context of my business. They have given me completely contradictory advice, several times. They simply ignored the relief when they entered the tax return, which has probably resulted in a fairly significant loss to me, despite my highlighting the existence of the relief to them. They are now going back and forth as to what, if anything to do about that. They clearly have no idea what they are doing. I worry that if they submit a correction, that will be wrong too, which could cause problems. And I need to sort out my next return very soon, on my own or with a new accountant.
They've now offered to refund their charge for the last tax return. But that still leaves me with the likelihood that I have lost out financially by the tax relief not having been made use of. I don't know how much the loss is, because they don't know how to work it out. I'm also reluctant to spend a lot of time and money trying to go over the whole thing with another accountant, which would be expensive and might not result in a definite answer.
They've also been chaotic and dodgy about costs. For example, when I originally asked them for a quote for next year's tax return, they tried to get me to agree to pay them whatever they wanted to charge me - without giving any indication of what the cost would be. They weren't even prepared to provide an hourly rate. They kept pressurising me to sign a letter authorising them to do the work, without including any information about costs. I refused.
What would you do?