Hi Guys,
Sorry I wasn't around yesterday.
JPLEWIS:
I'm very sorry to hear of your experience and truly wish you well on it. Please don't judge all companies by the actions of one.
We base our fee on a %. We feel doing it that way helps to assure the client we are doing the very best for them, rather than charging a set fee of £99 (for example) and just doing a cursory job that doesn't go that extra mile.
Everyone:
We ALWAYS make sure when speaking with clients that any claim they are making can be substantiated. We know that HMRC are getting tougher all the time and making fruadulent claims is just not worth it.
We are here to provide a service to any tradesmen that wants to have our help. We don't do it because we think people are too stupid to do it themselves - by the same token, you provide scaffolding because I don't want to do it for myself (not sure I could, mind!). Same as having a car serviced or any other "specialiist" profession. A friend of mine used to say (particularly about fixing cars, as at one time it was possible before onboard computers) "I go to work to earn money to pay someone to do that for me" - and basically that's how the world turns.
Since we've been on this forum, we have had to defend our position time and again. Being on all the public places we are across the web and making ourselves as accessable to people as we can, it leaves us very open to critism but also gives us the opportunity to interact and make ourselves available (unlike many of our competitors). We have nothing to hide with the way we go about business and we always have out clients best interests at the forefront.
As part of our service, we have Tom in the office now, who will see our clients through any HMRC compliance checks, at no extra cost. Again, unlike some competitors, we will offer every assistance should HMRC decide to make any checks (which they randomly do and have done).
As for the big corporations and their lack of tax paying - don't get me started! If you follow me on Facebook or Twitter you'll see me swiping at them whenever I can!