- Original Poster
- #1
I work for my dad's business. I am an employee, not a Director. In October last year, the business decided to switch accountants.
The old accountant didn't submit their final information correctly to HMRC, so instead of simply transferring me to the new accountant, their last RTI told HMRC that my employment ended October 2023, which it didn't. This has resulted in a tax refund of over £1000, that I will now have to pay back. I've also had ongoing problems reconfirming my 30 hours childcare this year, resulting in me having to provide further proof of employment. And more importantly, I stand to lose all my 14 years statutory redundancy in the event the business enters liquidation, which is currently very likely.
The business's current accountant has told me that because it's not their system error, I have to contact the previous accountant and ask them to amend their last submission. I have, they've apologised and told me they'd investigate it. I've heard nothing since and my HMRC portal is still showing the same info. I have also sent all my payslips and FPS submissions to HMRC, in an attempt to prove I didn't leave in 2023.
Am I in my rights to request compensation from the accountants for this error? All I am after is for them to put the problem right and cover the tax I will have to pay back, as I wouldn't be in this situation if it wasn't for them. I did check all my payslips and p60 at the time, before I accepted the refund in July and there was no obvious error. It was only when my 30 hours free childcare came into question that I started to become suspicious and had to do some investigating.
The old accountant didn't submit their final information correctly to HMRC, so instead of simply transferring me to the new accountant, their last RTI told HMRC that my employment ended October 2023, which it didn't. This has resulted in a tax refund of over £1000, that I will now have to pay back. I've also had ongoing problems reconfirming my 30 hours childcare this year, resulting in me having to provide further proof of employment. And more importantly, I stand to lose all my 14 years statutory redundancy in the event the business enters liquidation, which is currently very likely.
The business's current accountant has told me that because it's not their system error, I have to contact the previous accountant and ask them to amend their last submission. I have, they've apologised and told me they'd investigate it. I've heard nothing since and my HMRC portal is still showing the same info. I have also sent all my payslips and FPS submissions to HMRC, in an attempt to prove I didn't leave in 2023.
Am I in my rights to request compensation from the accountants for this error? All I am after is for them to put the problem right and cover the tax I will have to pay back, as I wouldn't be in this situation if it wasn't for them. I did check all my payslips and p60 at the time, before I accepted the refund in July and there was no obvious error. It was only when my 30 hours free childcare came into question that I started to become suspicious and had to do some investigating.
They’ve confirmed they received all my supporting documents and will review. So I’ll probably wait to hear from them now, as I don’t think I’ll get anywhere with the accountants. 
