cis tax returns problems

[novacav]

hi all

i have been self employed for the last 4+ years mainly working for one firm on the cis tax system with him taking 18% or 20% of my pay and giving it to the hmrc

over the last few years i have not done my returns on time this year i decide to sort it all out and find a firm who deals in only cis tax returns and it all gets sorted out

i recive two letters from the tax office to say they owe me a total of £6952.27 and that payment would be sent to my agent
one letter was dated 21/07/2008 and one on the 03/09/2008
as i had not heard anything from the agent i called the tax office and was told payments were sent on the 24/07/2008 and the 08/09/2008

then called the agent and got told there was a cash flow problem and he would pay me £1000 last friday and the rest in payments

i get a letter today telling me he is closing his firm where do i go from here as he has £5602.27 of my money


many thanks novacav

[Conniff]

Is he a registered or limited company?

[novacav]

the firm is cistaxrefunds he is registered with the tax office

[Conniff]

There is no registration at companies house.

Is this the same company?

SELF ASSESSMENT TAX RETURN CIS REBATE NATIONAL SERVICE on eBay, also, Accounting Bookkeeping, Professional Business, Local Services (end time 23-Sep-08 17:46:57 BST)

[novacav]

yes thats them they were recomended by a friend at work who had no probs at all with them

[Conniff]

As they are not a registered company and not LTD, then you will have to claim against Alan.

I will pm you his details and address if it is required?

[novacav]

i have the busines address but in the letter i recived today it says they are no longer at the address

[Conniff]

He is still there according to the Electoral Register.

I will pm his address so you can see if it is the same.

[novacav]

that would be good thanks

[Conniff]

I misread, his last entry on the register was 2006.

Did he not include his address when he wrote to you?

[Conniff]

As he is still advertising on ebay and Gubtree, I would suggest that you ask for a check to be done by the tax office on the certificate registered number he has given you.

[novacav]

on the letter i got on saturday it had the address on it
the letter i recived

due to a backlog of repayments not being sent to us by H.M.R.C. involving security checks, C.I.S. tax deduction checks, and financial difficulties within our business, We are currently experiencing diffculty paying out client's rebates within normal timescale period given.
we are doing our best to pay out client's money owed to them as soon as possible. in some instances where large amounts are owed we are issuing separate payments on an instalment basis until the full balance is paid.
Unfortunately due to these circumstances a minority of clients have made threats against me and other colleagues within the company which is unacceptable and has been taken seriously. After receiving advice from essex police who have been made aware of the situation, we have instaled software which records all correspondence (emails/all phone calls texts etc) which can be used as evidence if these threats (by the minority) continue. Whilst the business is currently struggling, we dont anticipate any long term problems and we intend to have any tax repayment owed by us sent to you within the next 2-4 weeks. We are sorry about the delay with the repayment and the steps we have had to take explained above, however we have been advised that we have a legal obligation to inform you of any recording that may occur between ourselves and you the client in the future

regards


alan waidson

[Conniff]

Their (and there are 3 of them) problems are not your problem, if there has been delays in others funds coming through, that is not the case with you as the tax office has already confirmed that payment has alread been made.

You have the choice to wait the 2-4 weeks and see what happens or to send him by recorded a demand for immediate payment citing that the tax office has made payment in full to cistaxrefunds of your refund and that problems with others should not affect payment (minus their fee), to you.

[novacav]

and the letter i recived today


dear client


regettbly as of 26/09/2008 we as a company are no longer in business this is due to a number of circumstances including the following
1 clients encouraging and demanding we commit tax fraud (by over claiming on expenses resulting in larger tax rebates) in some instances money was actually owed rather than be paid as a tax rebate hmrc is aware of this and are now checking returns sent in by us between 15/05/2008 and 28/09/2008 for any discrepancies
2 a trusted member of the company has been discovered to not have transferred clients rebates correctly once they were received and without notice disappeared with their entire tax refunds. Initially we thought this occured in only a small number of cases and were trying to rectify the situation by issuing repayments owed on an instalment basis however it is only recently that we have discovered the full extent of the crime and the number of clients who have not had there rebate paid to them (essex police are aware of the crime and are investigating)
3 a number of clients acting after we have processed their return requesting the repayment to be sent to them directly from the tax office resulting in our consultants essentially working for free.
4 more recently myself and a colleague have been threatened repeatedly by a small number of clients who are understandably angry with the service they have received by ourselves and where their repayment (usually a large sum where an over claim has occurred) has not been received damage to the residents property where our office was located has also occurred which is most unacceptable as the residents were not involved in any aspect of the business and has given us no option but to vacate the premises and as of 23/09/2008 we will no longer be at our trading address

it was not my intention to close the business as i have spent a large amount of time personal money and effort building our client base up over the last few months and promoting the company name with many clients coming to us through recommendations of others who received a good service we did at one stage have a growing successful business however on reflection of the above problems and criminal acts that have occurred it is impossible for us to continue and with regret i have decided to close the business as from 27/09/2008 cistaxrefunds.co.uk will cease trading in the website email addresses listed officeaddress and all phone numbers associated with the company no longer in use. Essex police have been informed us not to anticipate retieving any of the stolen funds in the foreseeable future and recommend that if you are owed money you should see legal advice regarding this issue

with regret


alan waidson

[novacav]

when i recieved the letter on saturday i went to the local essex police station to see if they could tell me anything about these threts he was having i got told there is no records in his name,busines name or address and that upminster where he is comes under the met police

[Conniff]

Then you have no choice other than to issue a county court summons against Anal Waidson.

If you want it to go via small claims, easiest, then you will have to limit your claim to £5,000


P.S. There are no typos in this post.

[legalpickle]

For once I agree with Conniff on issuing court proceedings, however I should warn you that considering his alleged problems it sounds like you are unlikely to get paid.

I would not limit the claim to £5k, as what could be in dispute? There is no defence therefore I personally would hit him for the full whack and statutory interest at 8% per annum.

I would also advise HMRC of this - even though I'm sure they know already - both to try and make sure that they don't make any further payments to him and to kick up a ruckus.

The electoral roll is limited, so I would recommend going on to Land Registry Online - Land Register Online - and checking if he owns his property. If he does then you have better chances of recovering your hard earned cash.

Best of Luck & Please keep us posted what you decide to do and don't hesitate to ask if you need any help.