Tax Rebate not being paid back to me by Accountant

[silverbeetle]

Has any one got any experience of this?

The situation, in January this year both myself and my husband received a letter from HMRC informing us that we had a tax rebate and it was being paid to our tax agent. This was fine as we had been expecting it and we had agreed for it to be paid to our accountant in the first instance on their advice.

However it is now June and we still haven't received the money from the accountant. I have emailed them on a number of occasions asking when we could expect to receive it, these were met with either silence or excuses as to why they hadn't transferred it to our account. In April I received an email to confirm 'we have now received the money from HMRC, please supply bank details'. This we did by return email. The result - still no payment.

Today I rang HMRC to ask about it and they confirmed it was paid into our accountants bank account on 26th Jan! So I decided to ring them and find out what's going on. Surprise, surprise when they asked my name they were suddenly unavailable to talk to me.

I am now feeling quite angry about this, so I wrote another email which was a bit more to the point, stating what I had found out, asking why the delay, as the money is legally ours? Also gave them a deadline to transfer me the money otherwise I would be taking legal action.

AIBU to expect my money to be paid by now? We have paid their bill within a couple of days of receiving it, so feel very let down :( Will not be using them again.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated :)

Wow - how annoying for you
My account receives repayment for my DH, deducts fee (bill) and then sends a cheque - has just once miscalculated the amount, but as soon as I queried that was quickly rectified
Can you visit your accountant's office in person?

sorry - accountant not accunt

oh good heavens - concentrate woman - not accunt account!

Is your accountant part of a professional body threaten to report them.

The moral is don't authorise your accountant to receive the tax refund - you don't need to, there is no benefit in doing so, and most reputable accountants don't even suggest it. In fact it increases the bureaucracy etc that the accountant has to deal with as they then need a clients account which makes insurance and regulation more complicated.

If your accountant is properly qualified/regulated, you could threaten to report them to their professional body. But as it's not a regulated profession and literally anyone can call themselves an accountant and set up an accountancy practice, you may not have that option if they aren't members of a professional body.

Yes, she is a member of Association of Certified Public Accountants. I've checked, she is listed as a member and I can put in a complaint about her which could result in a reprimand or sanctions. However they don't deal with financial claims.

Looks like I might have to go via the Small Claims Court. I think she's just hoping we forget about it. It's not a huge amount of money but it's £700 I could really do with and it's my bloody money not hers!!!
If she does this with lots of people she's clearly on to a nice little earner!

Have since found out on more local sites that she's had bad reviews. Wish I had know that beforehand - bugger.

I'm clearly too trusting! Have thought about just turning up at her office too but not sure how I can make her pay me without wrestling her to the ground and standing on her while she writes a cheque - then I'd probably be seen as being in the wrong :(

Take a book and a flask and sit there until she transfers the money. Feel free to explain to any of her customers who arrive exactly why you're waiting. She'll probably sort it out quite quickly.

gallicgirl - Thanks I might just do that. She has until Friday to transfer the money. If not I'm taking Pillars of the Earth and a flask of coffee. Should I let her know I'm coming or just turn up?

I'll keep you informed :)

Just turn up. That way there's no excuse to close the office that day.

Yes, she is a member of Association of Certified Public Accountants.

Which isn't a robust recognised professional body. It's not a "chartered" body and not a member of the CCAB (consultative committee of accountancy bodies). It's basically a members organisation rather than a regulatory/professional body and isn't widely recognised. People can become members by having relatively low level qualifications or just a few years of relevant experience - a lot less robust entry requirements than the chartered bodies. Next time look for "chartered" accountants - there are a few chartered bodies which have far more strenuous entry requirements, professional regulations and are properly recognised by third parties such as banks etc.

Thank you Badbunny I've done further investigation as was concerned I hadn't seen 'chartered' on her website. I think you've confirmed my fears.

UPDATE
Checked bank account Friday morning.... nothing paid in.
Spoke to bank to see if any payments were pending, the answer was no!. They also confirmed that if the payment was sent from her account on the Wednesday as she said, that with new banking systems it should have reached my account within hours.

So I sent her an email stating the above and to inform her that I would now start legal proceedings. Funnily enough I had a response within an hour which started as follows:
'I take it that by 5pm this evening I will have a full apology from you because you will have received your tax rebates as I have previously confirmed to you - that is supposing you gave me the correct bank details.'

So checked my account at 5.10pm and money had just gone in - RESULT!

AIBU to think she does not deserve an apology from me? She has held my money for over 6 months, I have had to repeatedly chase her, she has told me a number of bare faced lies and she should never have allowed HMRC to pay rebates directly to her - in fact we were not aware that it was possible for them to be paid directly to us, she said they had to go to her first.
In fact, I should be charging HER interest! So if she wants an apology from me she's going to be waiting a very long time.

Thanks for everyone's advice.

Now calculate the interest she owes you from January. Use the hmrc official rates. It might only be. A few pounds but better yours than hers.

Agree, ask for the interest and then fire her.