Bad tax advisor, what now?
June 17, 2009 | 25,00 EUR | answered by Dr. Lars Nozar
Dear Sir or Madam,
I registered my business for sales through my online store in November 2007.
At the beginning, I was very careful about my costs and found a cheap tax advisor.
So far, everything has been running reasonably satisfactorily. I have always submitted my folders with my income and expenses and received an invoice from the tax advisor and then the tax assessment from the tax office.
However, since November 2008, I have not received any more invoices from the tax advisor.
In the meantime, I have had several phone calls with my tax advisor, who always just replied with "yes, we will do it" on the phone.
I have had to pay around €600 in late fees over the last 5-6 months and have been repeatedly estimated by the tax office. I have already found a new tax advisor and have an appointment scheduled for this week (this time not a cheap one but a good tax advisor!).
Now to my question... what is the legal situation here?
The current tax advisor still has all my documents until the end of May, which should actually have been processed!
Can I take legal action against the tax advisor?
Just a small note... I have always sent my folders on time and by insured shipping to the tax advisor, and I have also saved the tracking numbers, so they can be traced.
Hello, first of all, it is very good that you have secured the "evidence". You should also - as a precaution - save the phone calls (the connection data) (e.g. ISDN monitor) so that you can provide appropriate evidence. But it seems like you have already thought of this.
Regarding the legal situation:
You have done everything so that the tax advisor could have fulfilled his duties. The tax advisor was also obligated to do so; otherwise, he would have had to refuse the mandate. The legal nature of a tax advisor contract is disputed. If the tax advisor is supposed to still work on the documents including May, you should set him a deadline. Text suggestion:
"Dear Sir/Madam, I am setting you a deadline to prepare my bookkeeping according to the assignment given to you by ... (Note: specific date, 14 days are appropriate). If you have not completed the bookkeeping by then and confirmed it to me in writing, I will commission another tax advisor to carry out the work and charge you for any additional costs. If you do not comply, I will set you the above-mentioned deadline to hand over my documents by May 2009."
If the late filing penalties only occurred because the documents were not submitted to the tax office on time by the tax advisor - so you are not at fault - the tax advisor is liable for damages in the amount of the late filing penalties. You should set him a payment deadline in writing (specific date!). Then he is in default if he does not pay. After that, you could also take legal action - lawsuit / enforcement order. It's up to you.
I hope I have been able to help. Good luck.
