Ask a tax advisor on the topic of Income tax return

Documents from the 3rd and 4th quarter of 2011 are no longer available.

October 12, 2013 | 30,00 EUR | answered by Anton Pernitschka

Hello,

due to a change of tax advisor, there have been significant delays in filing the tax return for the year 2011. My old tax advisor took considerable time until the end of September this year to transmit the data to my new tax advisor. After my new tax advisor received the data CD of my booked revenues and expenses, he unfortunately had to determine that the 1st & 2nd quarters were booked, but there were no bookings made for the 3rd & 4th quarters. Rather, estimates were booked. After consulting with my old tax advisor, he offered me a settlement payment of 80 EUR plus VAT without admitting any legal obligation and with the request not to assert any claims against him in the future. He advised me to have the receipts booked by my new tax advisor. He returned the folders to me. However, I did not notice that the folder for the 3rd & 4th quarters of 2011 was not returned. I only noticed this now. Now it's my word against his. I strongly suspect that he will claim to have sent all documents back to me.
I can reconstruct the commission invoices, but not the expenses. Can I estimate the expenses based on the following year? Could there be problems in a tax audit? Do I need to expect penalties? Or should I rely on the estimates provided by my old tax advisor to the new one? I am certain that the documents were sent to the old tax advisor, as I found an email from a tax assistant stating that she had booked the data for the 3rd quarter of 2011 and that I should accordingly transfer amount X to the tax office.
Thank you for your attention and I look forward to your response. Thank you in advance.

Anton Pernitschka

Dear inquirer,

In the context of an initial consultation and your fee commitment, while observing the rules of this forum, I would like to answer your question.

In tax matters, the taxpayer is generally responsible for the financial administration. Any misconduct by a tax representative is attributed to the taxpayer.

If income or expenses cannot be determined anymore, estimates can be made. Based on the facts, the income for 2011 can still be determined retrospectively, while expenses must be estimated. Both the recorded expenses so far as well as those incurred in the following year can serve as a basis for estimation. The estimation made by the previous tax advisor can also be considered. However, in the case of a tax audit, there may well be problems.

Penalties are unlikely if there is no personal fault involved. Misconduct by a tax representative is not attributed to the taxpayer in tax law.

If there is misconduct by a tax advisor, there is also the possibility of liability. Such risks can be covered by the tax advisor's liability insurance.

Best regards,

Anton Pernitschka
Tax consultant