We have listed below the work that you have instructed us to carry out, the detail of which is contained in the attached schedule(s). This/these state your and our responsibilities in relation to the work to be carried out. If we agree to carry out additional services for you, we will provide you with a new or amended engagement letter. Only the services that are listed in the attached schedule are included within the scope of our instructions. If there is additional work that you wish us to carry out which is not listed in the schedule, please let us know and we will discuss with you whether they can be included in the scope of our work.

PERSONAL TAX – INDIVIDUALS AND COUPLES
Crystal Tax Refund Ltd
SCHEDULE OF SERVICES
This schedule should be read in conjunction with the engagement letter and the standard terms and conditions.
Personal Tax – individuals AND Couples
Recurring compliance work
We will prepare your self-assessment tax returns together with any supplementary pages required from the information and explanations that you provide to us. After obtaining your approval, we will submit your returns to HMRC.
We will calculate your income tax, high-income child benefit charge (if applicable), national insurance contributions (NIC) and any capital gains tax liabilities as included on your self-assessment return, and tell you how much you should pay and when. Where instructed by you we will advise on the interest and penalty implications if tax or NIC is paid late. We will also check HMRC’s calculation of your tax and NIC liabilities, and initiate repayment claims if tax or NIC has been overpaid.
Other than tax credits and universal credit (see below), we will advise you as to possible tax return-related claims and elections arising from information supplied by you. Where instructed by you, we will make such claims and elections in the form and manner required by HMRC.
We will review PAYE notices of coding provided to us by you and advise accordingly. Note HMRC no longer sends copies of notices of coding to agents.
Ad hoc queries by way of telephone and email enquiries are not routine compliance and may result in additional fees. As indicated below, where appropriate we will aim to discuss and agree additional fees, but it may not always be possible to agree these in advance and we reserve the right to charge you an additional fee for these queries.
Ad hoc and advisory work
Where you have instructed us to do so we will provide such other taxation ad hoc and advisory services as may be agreed between us from time to time. These services will be subject to the terms of this engagement letter and standard terms and conditions of business unless we decide to issue a separate engagement letter. An additional fee may be charged for these services. Examples of such work include:
advising on the in-year Capital Gains Tax (CGT) reporting requirements on disposals of property, and preparing the in-year return and calculating the CGT due where required. We will require you to provide information as early as possible in advance of exchange of contracts in order to provide advice on the tax implications, reporting requirements and to quantify the tax bill;
advising on ad hoc transactions (for example, pre-sale advice on the sale of assets) and queries (including telephone conversations), preparing and submitting information in the relevant format to HMRC and calculating any related tax liabilities;
advising on extraction of cash from your personal service company and completion of tax returns if you have been treated as a deemed employee under the IR35/off-payroll working rules.
advising on double tax relief if appropriate;
dealing with any enquiry opened into your tax return or tax affairs by HMRC;
preparing any amended returns that may be required and corresponding with HMRC as necessary; and
advising on tax credits and universal credit.
Where specialist advice is required, we may need to seek this from or refer you to appropriate specialists. We will only do this when instructed by you.
Tax credits and universal credit
If we agree to advise you on tax credits and universal credit we will issue a separate letter or schedule to cover this area. Tax credits and universal credit are, in effect, a social security benefit. Your entitlement or otherwise will depend not only on your own circumstances but also those of your household, and we would require all relevant information to advise in this regard.
Changes in the law or practice or in public policy
We will not accept responsibility if you act on advice given by us on an earlier occasion without first confirming with us that the advice is still valid in the light of any change in the law or practice or in public policy or your circumstances.
We will accept no liability for losses arising from changes in the law or practice or in public policy that are first published after the date on which the advice is given.
Your responsibilities
You are legally responsible for:
ensuring that your self-assessment tax returns are correct and complete;
filing any returns by the due date; and
paying tax on time.
Failure to do this may lead to penalties and/or interest.
Taxpayers who approve their returns cannot delegate this legal responsibility to others. You agree to check that returns that we have prepared for you are complete before you approve them.
To enable us to carry out our work you agree:
that all returns are to be made on the basis of full disclosure of all sources of income, charges, allowances and capital transactions;
to provide all information necessary for dealing with your affairs: we will rely on the information and documents being true, correct and complete, and will not audit the information or those documents;
to authorise us to approach such third parties as may be appropriate for information that we consider necessary to deal with your affairs; and
to provide full details of all UK residential property disposals including associated costs/valuations prior to disposal. Where you consider that you will be non-UK resident in the tax year of disposal, full details of all UK property disposals (residential and non-residential) and disposals of shares in UK property rich companies or UK property rich collective investment vehicles, or other such entities must be advised prior to exchange of contracts or agreement to transfer shares or units. If information is received after this we cannot guarantee that we can provide advice on the amount of capital gains tax due or submit an in-year return within 30 days after the completion date of the disposal.
to provide us with information in sufficient time for your tax return to be completed and submitted by the 31st January following the end of the tax year. In order that we can do this, we need to receive all relevant information by . Where feasible we may agree to complete your return within a shorter period but may charge an additional fee of 00% of gross tax refund, exclusive of VAT for so doing.
You will keep us informed of material changes in your circumstances that could affect your tax liability. If you are unsure whether the change is material or not, please let us know so that we can assess its significance.
Where you wish us to deal with HMRC communications, you will forward to us all communications received from HMRC such as HMRC statements of account, copies of notices of assessment, tax codes and letters. These must be provided in time to enable us to deal with them as may be necessary within the statutory time limits. It is essential that you let us have copies of any correspondence received because HMRC is not obliged to send us copies of all communications issued to you.
You are responsible for employment taxes, pensions (including auto-enrolment) and the assessment of the tax status of your workers, including domestic staff. If you do not understand what you need to consider or action you need to take, please ask us. We will not be in a position to assist you in complying with your responsibilities if we are not engaged to provide such a service. We are not responsible for any penalty that is incurred.
Our services as detailed above are subject to the limitations on our liability set out in the engagement letter and in paragraph 18 of our standard terms and conditions of business. These are important provisions, which you should read and consider carefully.

Appendix B2:

PERSONAL TAX – SOLE TRADERS AND PROPERTY INCOME
Crystal Tax Refund Ltd
SCHEDULE OF SERVICES
This schedule should be read in conjunction with the engagement letter and the standard terms and conditions.
Personal Tax – Sole Traders and Property Income
Recurring compliance work – accounts
We will prepare the business accounts in accordance with from the books, accounting records and other information and explanations provided to us by you and/or by others on your behalf.
Where receipts for your property business are less than £150,000 for the tax year we will prepare property accounts on the default cash basis unless we agree with you that it is appropriate to elect to use the accruals basis and the accounts are to be prepared on that basis. We will then deal with the election on completion of your tax return.
We will complete the writing up of your books and records in so far as they are incomplete when presented to us. These will be from the accounting information and records you supply.
We will not be carrying out any audit work as part of this assignment and accordingly will not verify the assets and liabilities of the business, nor the items of expenditure and income. To carry out an audit would entail additional work to comply with International Standards on Auditing so that we could report on the truth and fairness of the financial statements. Accordingly, we shall not seek any independent evidence to support the entries in the accounting records, or to prove the existence, ownership or valuation of assets or completeness of income, liabilities or disclosure in the accounts. Nor shall we assess the reasonableness of any estimates or judgements made in the preparation of the accounts. Consequently, our work will not provide any assurance that the accounting records are free from material misstatement, irregularities or error. We would also like to emphasise that we cannot undertake to discover any shortcomings in your systems or irregularities on the part of your employees.
We have a professional duty to compile accounts that conform to generally accepted accounting principles. Where we identify that the accounts do not conform with generally accepted accounting principles or standards, we will inform you and suggest amendments be put through the accounts before being finalised. We have a professional responsibility not to allow our name to be associated with accounts that may be misleading. In extreme cases, where this matter cannot be resolved, we will withdraw from the engagement and notify you in writing of the reasons.
Should you instruct us to carry out any alternative report it will be necessary for us to issue a separate letter of engagement.
To ensure that anyone reading the accounts is aware that we have not carried out an audit, we will attach to the accounts a report stating this fact.
You are the intended user of the report and the report will be addressed to you.
Once we have issued our report we have no further responsibility in relation to the accounts for that financial year. However, we expect that you will inform us of any material event occurring between the date of our report and that of the annual general meeting that may affect the accounts.
There are no third parties that we have agreed should be entitled to rely on the work done pursuant to this engagement letter.
Recurring compliance work – tax
We will prepare your self-assessment tax returns together with any supplementary pages required from the information and explanations that you provide to us. After obtaining your approval, we will submit your returns to HMRC.
We will calculate your income tax, high-income child benefit charge, national insurance contributions (NIC) and any capital gains tax liabilities as included on your self-assessment return, and tell you how much you should pay and when. Where instructed by you, we will advise on the interest and penalty implications if tax or NIC is paid late. We will also check HMRC’s calculation of your tax and NIC liabilities, and initiate repayment claims if tax or NIC has been overpaid.
Other than tax credits and universal credit (see below), we will advise you as to possible tax return-related claims and elections arising from information supplied by you. Where instructed by you, we will make such claims and elections in the form and manner required by HMRC.
We will review PAYE notices of coding provided to us by you and advise accordingly. Note that HMRC no longer sends copies of notices of coding to agents.
Ad hoc queries by way of telephone and email enquiries are not routine compliance and may result in additional fees. As indicated below, where appropriate we will aim to discuss and agree additional fees, but it may not always be possible to agree these in advance and we reserve the right to charge you an additional fee for these queries.
Ad hoc and advisory work
Where you have instructed us to do so we will provide such other taxation ad hoc and advisory services as may be agreed between us from time to time. These services will be subject to the terms of this engagement letter and standard terms and conditions of business unless we decide to issue a separate engagement letter. An additional fee may be charged for these services. Examples of such work include:
advising on the in-year Capital Gains Tax (CGT) reporting requirements on disposals of property, and preparing the in-year return and calculating the CGT due where required. We will require you to provide information as early as possible in advance of exchange of contracts in order to provide advice on the tax implications, reporting requirements and to quantify the tax bill;
advising on ad hoc transactions (for example, pre-sale advice on the sale of assets) and queries (including telephone conversations), preparing and submitting information in the relevant format to HMRC and calculating any related tax liabilities;
advising on double tax relief if appropriate;
dealing with any enquiry opened into your tax return or tax affairs by HMRC;
preparing any amended returns that may be required and corresponding with HMRC as necessary; and
advising on the rules relating to and assisting with VAT registration
Where specialist advice is required, on occasions we may need to seek this from or refer you to appropriate specialists. We will only do this when instructed by you.
Tax credits and universal credit
If we agree to advise you on tax credits and universal credit we will issue a separate letter or schedule to cover this area. Tax credits and universal credit are, in effect, a social security benefit. Your entitlement or otherwise will depend not only on your own circumstances but also those of your household, and we would require all relevant information to advise in this regard.
Changes in the law or practice or in public policy
We will not accept responsibility if you act on advice given by us on an earlier occasion without first confirming with us that the advice is still valid in the light of any change in the law or practice or in public policy or your circumstances.
We will accept no liability for losses arising from changes in the law or practice or in public policy that are first published after the date on which the advice is given.
Your responsibilities
You are required to prepare accounts (financial statements) for each financial year, which give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the business and of its profit or loss for that period. In preparing those accounts you should:
select suitable accounting policies and then apply them consistently; and
make judgements and estimates that are reasonable and prudent.
It is your responsibility to keep proper accounting records that disclose with reasonable accuracy at any particular time the financial position of the business. It is also your responsibility to safeguard the assets and to take reasonable steps for the prevention of and detection of fraud and other irregularities with an appropriate system of internal controls.
You are also responsible for making available to us, as and when required, all accounting records and all other relevant records and related information, including minutes of meetings.
You will also be responsible for:
maintaining records of all receipts and payments of cash;
maintaining records of invoices issued and received;
reconciling balances with the bank statements;
preparing a record of business mileage undertaken in the year;
preparing a record of hours per month worked at home if you wish to claim for business use of your home;
preparing details of any loan interest paid;
preparing a record of capital introduced; and
preparing details of the following at the year-end: stocks and work in progress, fixed assets, amounts owing to creditors, amounts owing by customers, and accruals and prepayments.
You are legally responsible for:
ensuring that your self-assessment tax returns are correct and complete;
filing any returns by the due date; and
paying tax on time.
Failure to do this may lead to penalties and/or interest.
Taxpayers who approve their returns cannot delegate this legal responsibility to others. You agree to check that returns that we have prepared for you are complete before you approve them.
To enable us to carry out our work you agree:
that all returns are to be made on the basis of full disclosure of all sources of income, charges, allowances and capital transactions;
to provide all information necessary for dealing with your affairs, including the accounts information outlined above: we will rely on the information and documents being true, correct and complete, and will not audit the information or those documents;
to provide full details of all UK residential property disposals including associated costs/valuations prior to disposal. Where you consider that you will be non-UK resident in the tax year of disposal, full details of all UK property disposals (residential and non-residential) and disposals of shares in UK property rich companies or UK property rich collective investment vehicles, or such other entities must be advised prior to exchange of contracts or agreement to transfer shares or units. If information is received after this we cannot guarantee that we can provide advice on the amount of capital gains tax due or submit an in-year return within 30 days after the completion date of the disposal.
to authorise us to approach such third parties as may be appropriate for information that we consider necessary to deal with your affairs; and
to provide us with information in sufficient time for your tax return to be completed and submitted by the 31st January following the end of the tax year. In order that we can do this, we need to receive all relevant information by . Where feasible, we may agree to complete your return within a shorter period but may charge an additional fee of £00% of gross tax refund, exclusive of VAT for so doing.
You will keep us informed of material changes in your circumstances that could affect your tax liability. If you are unsure whether the change is material or not please let us know so that we can assess its significance.
Where you wish us to deal with HMRC communications you will forward to us all communications received from HMRC such as HMRC statements of account, copies of notices of assessment, tax codes and letters. These must be provided in time to enable us to deal with them as may be necessary within the statutory time limits. It is essential that you let us have copies of any correspondence received because HMRC is not obliged to send us copies of all communications issued to you.
(a) If you provide digital services to consumers in the European Union you are responsible for either registering for VAT in that member state or registering for VAT Mini One Stop Shop (MOSS).
You are responsible for monitoring your monthly turnover to establish whether you are liable to register for VAT. If you do not understand what you need to do, please ask us. If you exceed the VAT registration threshold and wish us to assist you in notifying HMRC of your liability to be VAT registered, we will be pleased to assist you in the VAT registration process. You should notify us of your instructions to assist in your VAT registration in good time to enable a VAT registration form to be submitted within the time limit of one month following the month in which you exceed the VAT registration threshold in force at that time. We will not be responsible if you fail to notify us in time and incur a late registration penalty as a result.
You are responsible for employment taxes, pensions (including auto-enrolment) and the assessment of the tax status of your workers. If you do not understand what you need to consider or action you need to take, please ask us. We will not be in a position to assist you in complying with your responsibilities if we are not engaged to provide such a service. We are not responsible for any penalty that is incurred.
Our services as detailed above are subject to the limitations on our liability set out in the engagement letter and in paragraph 18 of our standard terms and conditions of business. These are important provisions that you should read and consider carefully.

Appendix B9:
BENEFITS-IN-KIND RETURNS
Crystal Tax Refund Ltd
SCHEDULE OF SERVICES
This schedule should be read in conjunction with the engagement letter and the standard terms and conditions.
BENEFITS-IN-KIND RETURNS
(Forms P11D and declaration P11D(b)) and class 1A national insurance contributions (NIC)
Recurring compliance work
We will review forms P11D as may be required for each employee including directors based on the accounts, information and explanations provided to us on your behalf.
We will review form P11D(b) .
We will submit the forms P11D for any benefits/employees for whom benefits are provided but not payrolled with the form P11D(b) online after the form P11D(b) has been approved in writing by you.
We will prepare and send to you the P11D information for you to forward to your employees and directors by the statutory due date of 6 July following the end of the tax year.
We will calculate your class 1A NIC liability on the benefits and expenses that you are obliged to pay HMRC by the due date and send payment instructions to you.
Ad hoc queries by way of telephone and email enquiries are not routine compliance and may result in additional fees. As indicated below, where appropriate we will aim to discuss and agree additional fees, but it may not always be possible to agree these in advance and we reserve the right to charge you an additional fee for these queries.
Ad hoc and advisory work
Where you have instructed us to do so, we will provide such other taxation ad hoc and advisory services as may be agreed between us from time to time. These services will be subject to the terms of this engagement letter and standard terms and conditions of business unless we decide to issue a separate engagement letter. An additional fee may be charged for these services. Examples of such work include:
assisting you with calculating the values for tax and NIC of benefits-in-kind (BiK) provided to employees, including when provided by way of salary sacrifice and other optional remuneration arrangements;
dealing with compliance checks or enquiries opened into the BiK returns by HMRC;
preparing any amended returns that may be required and corresponding with HMRC as necessary;
advising on PAYE settlement agreements and/or approved expenses scale rates; and
conducting PAYE and benefits health checks.
Where specialist advice is required, we may need to seek this from or refer you to appropriate specialists. We will only do this when instructed by the nominated person.
Changes in the law or public policy and practice
We will not accept responsibility if you act on advice given by us on an earlier occasion without first confirming with us that the advice is still valid in the light of any change in the law or public policy and practice or your circumstances.
We will accept no liability for losses arising from changes in the law or public policy and practice that are first published after the date on which the advice is given.
Your responsibilities
You are legally responsible for:
ensuring that your declaration on form P11D(b) is true to the best of your knowledge and belief, and therefore that [ amounts of benefits in kind and expenses in the payroll] are correct and complete;
filing any returns by the due date after the end of the tax year; and
paying class 1A NIC on time.
Failure to do any of the above may lead to penalties and/or interest.
Legal responsibility for approval of the return cannot be delegated to others. The nominated individual agrees to check that the forms that we have prepared for you are complete before they approve them.
To enable us to carry out our work you agree:
that all returns are to be made on the basis of full disclosure;
to provide full information necessary for dealing with your BiK returns; we will rely on the information and documents being true, correct and complete, and will not audit the information or those documents;
to notify us within [ ] working days after the end of the tax year of all transactions or events that may need to be reflected in the forms P11D for the period, including details of all employees during the year and details of their remuneration packages; and
to authorise us to approach such third parties as may be appropriate that we consider necessary to deal with completing the BiK returns.
If the information required to complete the BiK returns set out above is received more than [ ] days after the end of the tax year, we will still endeavour to process the information onto the BiK returns to meet the submission date but we will not be liable for any costs or other losses arising if submission is late in these circumstances. We may charge an additional fee of in such circumstances.
Where you wish us to deal with HMRC communications you will forward to us all communications received from HMRC. These must be provided in time to enable us to deal with them as may be necessary within the statutory time limits. It is essential that you let us have copies of any correspondence received because HMRC is not obliged to send us copies of all communications issued to you.
Our services as detailed above are subject to the limitations on our liability set out in the engagement letter and in paragraph 18 of our standard terms and conditions of business. These are important provisions, which you should read and consider carefully.
Appendix B11a:

VOLUNTARY (UNPROMPTED) DISCLOSURE TO HMRC
Crystal Tax Refund Ltd
SCHEDULE OF SERVICES
This schedule must be read in conjunction with the engagement letter and the standard terms and conditions.
Voluntary (unprompted) disclosure to HMRC
Our service to you will be as follows:
We are to provide taxation advice to you in respect of a voluntary disclosure to HMRC.
Where required, we will prepare a report on your behalf giving full disclosure of your UK taxation affairs and, once it is agreed by you, submit it to HMRC on your behalf. We may also use HMRC’s online Digital Disclosure Service
to register you for an appropriate disclosure facility after you agree to that approach; and
to submit information to HMRC relating to your disclosure, once it is agreed by you.
We will negotiate with HMRC on any issue relating to taxation, interest and penalties with the aim of settling your United Kingdom taxation affairs. The outcome of some income tax disclosures may be related to or impact on claims to tax credits and universal credit. We will not address the tax credits and universal credit issues unless we explicitly agree to do so.
We must make it clear that if at any time we consider that:
you are not cooperating with us and answering our enquiries fully and frankly; or
you are unwilling to make full disclosure or you refuse to do so
then we will immediately cease to act and inform HMRC of that fact (albeit not the reasons for ceasing to act). In that event, any fees you have already paid will not be reimbursed and you will remain liable for any unbilled costs.
As part of the disclosure, either we (on your behalf) or HMRC may propose alternative dispute resolution to resolve matters. In such cases, we will negotiate on your behalf as part of this process. However, if the mediation is not successful and the case continues, the terms set out in this engagement letter will continue to apply to all work carried out on your behalf following the mediation.
We will, if instructed by you on a case-by-case basis:
make appeals to HMRC against assessments and/or determinations of taxation and/or penalties issued by HMRC during the course of our work. These appeals may include requests for the collection of the amount assessed/determined to be postponed pending full resolution of the enquiry/investigation. We cannot guarantee that HMRC will accept the appeal and/or postponement application;
request HMRC undertake an internal review of their decision(s) and make representations to the review officer;
make representations to HMRC on your behalf if HMRC indicates it intends to publish your details (eg as a deliberate defaulter);
advise in relation to double tax relief if appropriate.
Where specialist advice is required in connection with the voluntary disclosure, we may need to seek this from or refer you to appropriate specialists and/or tax counsel. We will only do this when instructed by you.
Where you request us to advise on ancillary matters connected with the disclosure to HMRC, we will confirm your instruction in this regard in writing and, if appropriate, issue to you a separate engagement letter to cover these ancillary matters. Where it is not appropriate to issue a separate engagement letter, we will carry out this additional advice under the terms of this engagement letter (although we reserve the right to charge an additional fee).
Your responsibilities
To enable us to carry out our work in relation to the voluntary disclosure you agree:
that all information and documentation to be given to HMRC in the course of the voluntary disclosure is to be made on the basis of full disclosure of all sources of income, charges, allowances and capital transactions;
to provide full information necessary for dealing with the voluntary disclosure;
to authorise us to communicate with such third parties as may be appropriate and that we consider necessary to deal with the voluntary disclosure;
to provide information promptly to enable us to deal with the voluntary disclosure expeditiously and to act in your interests in order to qualify for such reduction as may be appropriate for the cause of the error and the level of disclosure if there are tax liabilities or penalties for earlier years;
to forward to us on receipt copies of all HMRC correspondence, statements of account, notices of assessment, letters and other communications received from HMRC as may be relevant to the voluntary disclosure to enable us to deal with them as may be necessary immediately upon receipt. It is essential that you let us have copies of any correspondence received because HMRC is not obliged to send us copies of all communications issued to you.
to keep us informed about significant changes in your circumstances if they are likely to affect the outcome of the voluntary disclosure. If you are unsure whether the change is material or not please let us know so that we can assess its significance or otherwise;
to notify us immediately of any insurance cover you have for this voluntary disclosure including any queries raised by HMRC following its submission.
To the extent that our advice covers non-UK tax aspects, you must confirm this with an appropriately qualified professional adviser in the relevant territory before any irrevocable action is taken. We would be pleased to liaise with them as appropriate.
Our services as detailed above are subject to the limitations on our liability set out in the engagement letter and in paragraph 18 of our standard terms and conditions of business. These are important provisions, which you should read and consider carefully.

Applicable law
Our engagement letter, the schedule of services and our standard terms and conditions of business are governed by, and should be construed in accordance with, the law and practice of England and Wales. Each party agrees that the courts of England and Wales 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 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.
Client identification and verification
As with other professional services firms, we are required to identify and verify our clients for the purposes of the UK anti-money laundering legislation. Save in exceptional circumstances we cannot start work until this requirement has been met. We may request from you, and retain, such information and documentation as we require for these purposes and/or make searches of appropriate databases including ID verification software.
Client money
If we hold money on your behalf, such money will be held in trust in a client bank account, which is segregated from the firm’s funds. The account will be operated and all funds dealt with in accordance with AAT’s rules.
Commissions and other benefits
In some circumstances we may receive commissions and/or other benefits for introductions to other professionals or in respect of transactions that we arrange for you. Where this happens we may or may not notify you in writing of the amount and terms of payment and receipt of any such commissions or benefits. These will not be payable to you.
Complaints
We are committed to providing you with a high-quality service that is both efficient and effective. However, should there be any cause for complaint in relation to any aspect of our service, please contact our office. We agree to look into any complaint carefully and promptly and do everything reasonable to try and resolve it. If you are still not satisfied you can refer your complaint to our professional body, AAT.
Confidentiality
Communication between us is confidential. We shall take all reasonable steps not to disclose your information except where we are required to and as set out in our privacy notice. Unless we are authorised by you to disclose information on your behalf, this undertaking will apply during and after this engagement.
We may, on occasions, subcontract work on your affairs to other tax or accounting professionals. The subcontractors will be bound by our client confidentiality and security terms.
Conflicts of interest
If there is a conflict of interest in our relationship with you or in our relationship with you and another client that is capable of being addressed successfully by the adoption of suitable safeguards to protect your interests, then we will adopt those safeguards.
Where conflicts are identified that cannot be managed in a way that protects your interests then we regret that we will be unable to provide further services. If this arises, we will inform you promptly. We reserve the right to act for other clients whose interests are not the same as or are adverse to yours, subject, of course, to the obligations of confidentiality referred to above.
Data protection
You acknowledge that we will act in accordance with the privacy notice we have supplied to you. We are also registered with ICO.
Disengagement
Should we resign or be requested to resign we will normally issue a disengagement letter to ensure that our respective responsibilities are clear.
Should we have no contact with you for a period of 1 month or more, we may issue to your last known address a disengagement letter and thereafter cease to act.
We reserve the right following termination for any reason to destroy any of your documents that we have not been able to return to you after a period of six months unless other laws or regulations require otherwise.
Electronic and other communication
As instructed, we will communicate with you and with any third parties you instruct us to as set out in our covering letter and privacy notice via email or by other electronic means. The recipient is responsible for virus-checking emails and any attachments.
With electronic communication there is a risk of non-receipt, delayed receipt, inadvertent misdirection or interception by third parties. We use virus-scanning software to reduce the risk of viruses and similar damaging items being transmitted through emails or electronic storage devices. However, electronic communication is not totally secure and we cannot be held responsible for damage or loss caused by viruses, nor for communications that are corrupted or altered after despatch. Nor can we accept any liability for problems or accidental errors relating to this means of communication, especially in relation to commercially sensitive material. These are risks you must accept in return for greater efficiency and lower costs. If you do not wish to accept these risks, please let us know and we will communicate by hard copy, other than where electronic submission is mandatory.
Any communication by us with you sent through the post or DX system is deemed to arrive at your postal address two working days after the day that the document was sent.
When accessing information held electronically by HMRC, we may have access to more information than we need and will only access records reasonably required to carry out the contract.
You are required to keep us up to date with accurate contact details at all times. This is important to ensure that communications and papers are not sent to the incorrect address.
Fees and payment terms
Our fees may depend not only upon the time spent on your affairs but also on the level of skill and responsibility, and the importance and value of the advice that we provide, as well as the level of risk.
If we provide you with an estimate of our fees for any specific work, then the estimate will not be contractually binding unless we explicitly state that that will be the case.
Where requested, we may indicate a fixed fee for the provision of specific services or an indicative range of fees for a particular assignment. It is not our practice to identify fixed fees for more than a year ahead as such fee quotes need to be reviewed in the light of events. If it becomes apparent to us, due to unforeseen circumstances, that a fee quote is inadequate, we reserve the right to notify you of a revised figure or range and to seek your agreement thereto.
In some cases, you may be entitled to assistance with your professional fees, particularly in relation to any investigation into your tax affairs by HMRC. Assistance may be provided through insurance policies you hold or via membership of a professional or trade body. Other than where such insurance was arranged through us, you will need to advise us of any such insurance cover that you have. You will remain liable for our fees regardless of whether all or part are liable to be paid by your insurers.
We will bill as per submission of tax returns and our invoices are due for payment within 14 days. Our fees are exclusive of VAT, which will be added where it is chargeable. Any disbursements we incur on your behalf and expenses incurred in the course of carrying out our work for you will be added to our invoices where appropriate.
Unless otherwise agreed to the contrary, our fees do not include the costs of any third party, counsel or other professional fees.
You authorise us to settle our agreed fees from any money held on your behalf in the client account.
Where this contract exists between us and a purchaser acting in the course of a business we reserve the right to charge interest on late-paid invoices at the rate of 8% above the Bank of England base rate under the Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998. We also reserve the right to suspend our services or to cease to act for you on giving written notice if payment of any fees is unduly delayed. We intend to exercise these rights only where it is fair and reasonable to do so.
If you do not accept that an invoiced fee is fair and reasonable you must notify us within 21 days of receipt, failing which you will be deemed to have accepted that payment is due.
On termination of the engagement you may appoint a new adviser. Where a new adviser requests professional clearance and handover information we reserve the right to charge you a reasonable fee for the provision of handover information.
Implementation
We will only assist with implementation of our advice if specifically instructed and agreed in writing.
Intellectual property rights
We will retain all copyright in any document prepared by us during the course of carrying out the engagement save where the law specifically provides otherwise.
Interpretation
If any provision of this engagement letter, schedules of services or standard terms and conditions is held to be void, then that provision will be deemed not to form part of this contract and the remainder of this agreement shall be interpreted as if such provision had never been inserted.
In the event of any conflict between these standard terms and conditions and the engagement letter or schedules of services, the relevant provision in the engagement letter or schedules will take precedence.
Internal disputes within a client
If we become aware of a dispute between the parties who own or are in some way involved in the ownership and management of a business client, it should be noted that where our client is the business, we would not provide information or services to one party without the express knowledge and permission of all parties. Unless otherwise agreed by all parties we will continue to supply information to the Ambassador House, 61 Worcester Street, Wolverhampton WV2 4LQ for the attention of the Mr Anuj Paudel. If conflicting advice, information or instructions are received from different directors/principals in the business, we will refer the matter back to the board of directors/the partnership/the LLP and take no further action until the board/partnership/LLP has agreed the action to be taken.
Investment advice (including insurance mediation services)
Investment business is regulated under the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000.
If, during the provision of taxation services to you, you need advice on investments, we may refer you to someone who is authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority.
Lien
Insofar as we are permitted to do so by law or professional guidelines, we reserve the right to exercise a lien over all funds, documents and records in our possession relating to all engagements for you until all outstanding fees and disbursements are paid in full.
Limitation of liability
We will provide our services with reasonable care and skill. Our liability to you is limited to losses, damages, costs and expenses directly caused by our negligence, fraud or wilful default.
Exclusion of liability for loss caused by others
We will not be liable if such losses, penalties, interest or additional tax liabilities are caused by the acts or omissions of any other person or due to the provision to us of incomplete, misleading or false information, or if they are caused by a failure to act on our advice or a failure to provide us with relevant information.
In particular, where we refer you to another firm whom you engage with directly, we accept no responsibility in relation to their work and will not be liable for any loss caused by them.
Exclusion of liability in relation to circumstances beyond our control
We will not be liable to you for any delay or failure to perform our obligations under this engagement letter if the delay or failure is caused by circumstances outside our reasonable control.
Exclusion of liability relating to non-disclosure or misrepresentation
We will not be responsible or liable for any loss, damage or expense incurred or sustained if information material to the service we are providing is withheld or concealed from us or misrepresented to us.
This exclusion shall not apply where such misrepresentation, withholding or concealment is or should (in carrying out the procedures that we have agreed to perform with reasonable care and skill) have been evident to us without further enquiry beyond that which it would have been reasonable for us to have carried out in the circumstances.
Indemnity for unauthorized disclosure
You agree to indemnify us and our agents in respect of any claim (including any claim for negligence) arising out of any unauthorised disclosure by you or by any person for whom you are responsible of our advice and opinions, whether in writing or otherwise. This indemnity will extend to the cost of defending any such claim, including payment at our usual rates for the time that we spend in defending it.
Limitation of aggregate liability
Where the engagement letter specifies an aggregate limit of liability, then that sum shall be the maximum aggregate liability of this company, its principals, partners, directors or members agents and employees to all persons to whom the engagement letter is addressed and also any other person that we have agreed with you may rely on our work.
You have agreed that you will not bring any claim of a kind that is included within the subject of the limit against any of our or ; on a personal basis.
Limitation of third-party rights
The advice and information we provide to you as part of our service is for your sole use and not for any third party to whom you may communicate it unless we have expressly agreed in the engagement letter that a specified third party may rely on our work. We accept no responsibility to third parties, including any group company to whom the engagement letter is not addressed, for any advice, information or material produced as part of our work for you that you make available to them. A party to this agreement is the only person who has the right to enforce any of its terms and no rights or benefits are conferred on any third party under the Contracts (Rights of Third Parties) Act 1999.
Period of engagement and termination
Unless otherwise agreed in the engagement letter our work will begin when we receive your implicit or explicit acceptance of that letter, except as stated in that letter we will not be responsible for periods before that date.
Each of us may terminate this agreement by giving not less than 21 days’ notice in writing to the other party, except where you fail to cooperate with us or we have reason to believe that you have provided us or HMRC with misleading information, in which case we may terminate this agreement immediately. Termination will be without prejudice to any rights that may have accrued to either of us prior to termination.
In the event of termination of this contract, we will endeavour to agree with you the arrangements for the completion of work in progress at that time, unless we are required for legal or regulatory reasons to cease work immediately. In that event, we shall not be required to carry out further work and shall not be responsible or liable for any consequences arising from termination.
If you engage us for a one-off piece of work (for example advice on a one-off transaction or preparation of a tax return for one year only) the engagement ceases as soon as that work is completed. The date of completion of the work is taken to be the termination date and we owe you no duties and we will not undertake further work beyond that date.
Where recurring work is provided (for example ongoing compliance work such as the completion of annual tax returns) the engagement ceases on the relevant date in relation to the termination as set out above. Unless immediate termination applies, in practice this means that the relevant termination date is:
21 days after the date of notice of termination; or
A later agreed date
We owe you no duties beyond the date of termination and will not undertake any further work.
Professional body rules
We will observe and act in accordance with the bye-laws, regulations and ethical guidelines of the AAT and will accept instructions to act for you on this basis.
You are responsible for bringing to our attention any errors, omissions or inaccuracies in your returns that you become aware of after the returns have been submitted in order that we may assist you to make a voluntary disclosure.
In particular, you give us the authority to correct errors made by HMRC where we become aware of them. In addition, we will not undertake tax planning which breaches Professional Conduct in Relation to Taxation. We will therefore comply with the general anti-abuse rule and the targeted anti-avoidance rule. We will not be liable for any loss, damage or cost arising from our compliance with statutory or regulatory obligations. You can see copies of these requirements at our offices. The requirements are also available online at https://www.aat.org.uk/.
The implications of professional body membership as it relates to GDPR are set out in the privacy notice, which should be read alongside these standard terms and conditions of business.
Reliance on advice
We will endeavour to record all advice on important matters in writing. Advice given orally is not intended to be relied upon unless confirmed in writing. Therefore, if we provide oral advice (for example, during the course of a meeting or a telephone conversation) and you wish to be able to rely on that advice, you must ask for the advice to be confirmed by us in writing. However, bear in mind that advice is only valid at the date it is given.
Retention of papers
You have a legal responsibility to retain documents and records relevant to your tax affairs. During the course of our work we may collect information from you and others relevant to your tax affairs. We will return any original documents to you if requested.
When we cease to act for you we will seek to agree the position on access to cloud-accounting records to ensure continuity of service. This may require you to enter direct engagements with the software providers and pay for that service separately. Documents and records relevant to your tax affairs are required by law to be retained as follows:
Individuals, trustees and partnerships
with trading or rental income: five years and 10 months after the end of the tax year;
otherwise: 22 months after the end of the tax year.
Companies, LLPs and other corporate entities
six years from the end of the accounting period.
While certain documents may legally belong to you, we may destroy correspondence and other papers that we store, electronically or otherwise, which are more than seven years old. This includes your documents if they have not been reclaimed by you within the seven-year period. You must tell us if you require the return of any specific document or their retention for a longer period.
You should retain documents that are sent to you by us as set out in the privacy notice, which should be read alongside these terms and conditions.
The Provision of Services Regulations 2009 (‘Services Directive’)
In accordance with our professional body rules, we are required to hold professional indemnity insurance. Details about the insurer and coverage can be found at our offices or by request from us.