Unpaid fees

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K H
K H Registered Posts: 81 Regular contributor ⭐
in General accounting discussion
I completed a late (2012) tax return for a client in April and despite voice messages left on his phone he has still not paid my ( very reasonable) fee.

Fortunately I still have 3 years of his records at home so he's got to make contact eventually.

Any ideas on how much I should charge him for storage etc as I am considering issuing proceedings.


Many thanks

Comments

  • T.C.
    T.C. Registered, Tutor Posts: 1,448 Beyond epic contributor 🧙‍♂️
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    Just take him to small claims court. In future, it is always best to hold back submitting the TR until payment is received.
  • K H
    K H Registered Posts: 81 Regular contributor ⭐
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    Yes I know, but this was a 'so called' friend!

    Just wondered if anybody else had a similar situation?

    K H
  • Newbie
    Newbie Registered Posts: 229 Dedicated contributor 🦉
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    I had a v similar situation, now I always get money upfront from him.
  • T.C.
    T.C. Registered, Tutor Posts: 1,448 Beyond epic contributor 🧙‍♂️
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    They are the worst sort. A "friend" did it to me once too!!
  • burg
    burg Registered, Moderator Posts: 1,441 mod
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    Only way is to go to court. You will be surprised how little clients will care about the data. I currently have one client for who we did a 2009 return (not filed) and we have info for 2009, 2010 and 2011 but have not heard from them for over 18months despite plenty of attempts. We may not have filed but I hold out little hope of seeing the £800 owed.

    We now don't take on those with more than 1 year outstanding unless they pay 50% up front.
    Regards,

    Burg
  • Neillaw
    Neillaw Registered Posts: 307 Dedicated contributor 🦉
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    I wrote the time off and put it down to a learning curve.

    I now ask for a deposit up front and the balance on submission.

    I've also not had any negative feedback from clients since I introduced the policy.
  • lor
    lor Registered Posts: 68 Epic contributor 🐘
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    I've had a couple of slow payers, first one took about 6 months I held my patience as she gave me further records even after I had completed the work, but my fee included this and the follwoing time she used my service she was prompt, so she is still a client of mine. Second one I did his tax return and he seemed to have disappeared. But I sent him a Thomas Higgins letter asap for the cost of £2, even though it was about 2% of the whole fee, but this got a response and I got my money so wasn't too worried about paying £2. You have to act quickly with bad debt, the longer it's left the less likely it is too be paid.

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