General Terms Agreement

Part of Our “Working Together” Agreements

AGREEMENTS-T4-EA-GTA

T4 Tax Limited - Engagement Agreement - General Terms.

ESTIMATED TIME TO COMPLETE: 15 MINUTES

INTRODUCTION

Introduction to this agreement

About this agreement

This is our "General Terms and Conditions" agreement. 

Our Engagement Agreements are interactive and aim to be easy to read and understand.  Clear agreements lead to better outcomes and better working relationships. They also explain what you can expect from us, and what we expect or need from you. 

We have separate agreements for each of our main services (e.g., personal tax returns, bookkeeping, payroll, accounts etc.)

We can only provide specific services where the appropriate service engagement agreement is signed.

YOUR DETAILS

Next, we need your details (please complete this form using normal upper and lower case, e.g. Joe Smith)

Your T4 Client Reference

e.g. A111 (if known otherwise leave blank)

Your First Name

Your Surname

Your Email

emails are always all lower case lettering (capitals are ignored)

Are you completing this engagement agreement for yourself personally, for your business or both

Myself Only (e.g. if you are not in business)

Myself and My Business (e.g. if you are a director of a limited company)

My Business Only (If you are a personal client, e.g. tax returns, you will also need to complete one personally)

Name of Your Business

Enter full name of your business and if Ltd include Ltd or Limited at the end of the business name. (If a sole trader, trading under your own name, i.e. no business name, just enter your name again here)

NEXT - Background

Agree & Continue

BACKGROUND

BACKGROUND - PROFESSIONAL RULES AND PRACTICE GUIDELINES

T4 means T4 Tax Limited and its directors and staff and any subcontractors.

We (T4) will observe and act in accordance with the byelaws, regulations, and ethical guidelines of the Chartered Institute of Taxation (tax.org.uk) (CIOT) and accept instructions to act for you on the basis that we will act in accordance with those guidelines. 

You give us the authority, and agree, to the following:

1) T4 can correct errors made by HM Revenue and Customs (“HMRC”) where we become aware of them.  
2) T4 will not be liable for any loss, damage or cost arising from our compliance with 1) above, or any other statutory or regulatory obligations.  

These requirements are available via the Chartered Institute of Taxation (CIOT) Professional Standards Member Rules at: https://www.tax.org.uk/ciot-professional-standards-member-rules

NEXT - Client Identification

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CLIENT IDENTIFICATION

We are required to identify our clients for the purposes of UK anti-money laundering legislation.  To comply we may:

1)  Request from you, and retain, information and documentation. 
2)  Make searches of appropriate databases or online resources. 

Information REQUIRED may include:

i) Photo ID, (e.g., passport or driving licence) and,
ii) Proof of current address e.g., utility bill (such as council tax), bank statement, or correspondence from HMRC.

This information or documentation will also need to be updated from time to time.

We also need you to provide us with other basic information or documents, including:

a) Your email address(es),
b) Residential address,
c) Telephone numbers,
d) Marital status,
e) Passport or driving licence renewals, 
f) Any other information to enable us to be able to properly provide our services.

If we are not able to obtain satisfactory evidence of your identity, current address, and contact details, we will not be able to proceed with the engagement or will have to cease to act on your behalf.

NEXT - Commencement of Services

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COMMENCEMENT

ENGAGEMENT COMMENCEMENT - YOU NEED TO

Professional guidelines recommend that "engagement agreements" are put in place between us and our clients.

Our clients therefore need to:
1) read our engagement agreements.
2) agree to the terms of each agreement.
3) agree separate engagements for each relevant service we provide (e.g. personal tax returns, bookkeeping, accounts, vat, payroll etc.).
4) agree any revised terms.
5) ask if any aspect of an engagement agreement is not clear.

ENGAGEMENT COMMENCEMENT - WE WILL

We endeavour to keep all engagement agreements:
1) as short as possible,
2) clear and simple to understand

NEXT - Termination of Services

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TERMINATION

TERMINATION - CEASING TO ACT - YOU AGREE TO

Where you no longer require our services, you agree that:

a) You will inform us, in writing (or by email), at least 30 days prior to termination of our services. 

b) Any not previously invoiced costs, or expenses, up to that notice will be invoiced by us to you, and that you will settle that invoice promptly. 

c) If you are instructing a new agent or accountant, you accept that T4 has no responsibility or liability to answer queries from them until ALL our outstanding fees and costs have been settled in full. 

d) If you are instructing a different agent or accountant their request for any professional clearance and any queries or requests for information MUST be received within a reasonable period of time. Reasonable is taken to mean 90 days from the date you inform us (or we inform you) that our engagement is being terminated.

d) Providing any information after 90 days will incur a charge to cover our time and costs responding to your new agent of a minimum of £250 plus vat plus time required to deal with any requests. 

e) You accept that if we (T4) have do not receive any request(s) from your new agent or accountant within 365 days of you terminating our services that we may no longer be able to provide any information to your new agent after that time. Our records may have been deleted or archived after that time and no longer be available. No liability is accepted by us for any financial or other loss due to such data deletion.

TERMINATION - CEASING TO ACT - WE AGREE TO

Where YOU give us notice:

We will:

a) Acknowledge your request to confirm termination of our services, usually in the form of a disengagement letter or email. 

b) If we do not hear from a new agent within 90 days of termination notice our files will be archived, and after 365 days may be deleted where appropriate, or where we are required to by GDPR regulations and other factors. 

c) We will delete any files and records we hold for you but maintain a right to retain in any backups or archives made of client information previously held.  We cannot guarantee that once deleted any client data can be recovered from archives or backups, and attempting to do so may incur further costs.

If we need to terminate our engagement with you, for any reason, we will notify you in writing giving at least 30 days' notice.

The notice period applies unless otherwise agreed by both parties to allow for exceptional events beyond the control of either party. 

This agreement will otherwise continue between us until terminated by either party.

NEXT - Quality Control

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QUALITY CONTROL

We have an ongoing commitment and strategy to provide a quality service. 

Our files and records may also be subject to an independent quality control review, for example, by our professional institute(s) or regulatory bodies.  

Our reviewers would be bound by the same requirements for confidentiality as ourselves.

If a client has any concerns about quality of service, please immediately raise those concerns with a director as we take quality of service extremely seriously.

NEXT - Conflicts of Interest

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CONFLICTS OF INTEREST

Situations can arise where a potential conflict of interest between clients could arise. 

Where possible we will endeavour to remain neutral and provide good advice to both parties. 

Where either we, or you as a client, feel that the conflict of interest may be to the detriment on one or other party, we will need to cease to act for one, or both, of the parties concerned, so that both parties have the appropriate independent advice. 

In situations of a conflict of interest arises we will endeavour to agree with the relevant parties who we continue to advise and act for. 

Where agreement cannot be reached, we reserve the right to decide who we will continue to act for.

NEXT - Individual Services

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INDIVIDUAL SERVICES

We will only provide our services if:

A) An engagement agreement is in place for that particular service, and, 

B) The terms under which those services are provided have been agreed to.

INVESTMENT ADVICE

We do not provide services relating to investment business advice, as defined by the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000. 

If during the provision of professional services, you need investment advice, we may have to refer you to someone who is authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority or licensed by a Designated Professional Body, as we are not.  

We may be able to provide certain limited general investment advice or comment where it is complementary to, or arises out of, the professional services we are providing to you.   

For example, we can advise on the tax consequences of an investment, but we would not advise on any specific investment.

NEXT - Client Funds

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CLIENT FUNDS

CLIENT MONEY

We do not, and will not, hold client money on your behalf.

NEXT - Fees & Invoices

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FEES & INVOICES

Our fees and invoices are usually:

1) Agreed in advance where possible, and 
2) Either precise, within a range, or an interim guide, as individually agreed.
3) Payable within 30 days of invoice.
4) Increase in line with inflation, or more if our costs are rising by more than inflation.

VAT: VAT will be added where applicable.  

PREFERRED PAYMENT METHOD: By bank transfer (online or mobile banking). Our bank details are shown at the foot of our invoices or fee statements. 

FEE ADJUSTMENTS: Increase where more work is required or reduce where less work is required. 

STANDING ORDERS: Monthly recurring fees should be paid by Standing Order please.

DIRECT DEBIT: We may collect fome fees by Direct Debit with your prior agreement.

LATE FEE PAYMENT: We reserve the right to cease to act immediately, without any responsibility or liability for any consequences, financial or otherwise, of work ceasing, such as late tax returns, HMRC fines etc.

If we continue to act in late fee payment situations, we reserve the right to request payment in advance before any future work is done. 

QUOTES: Quotes and fee estimates, as based on an estimated amount of time or costs, are not binding on us. They are a guide only.

DISBURSEMENTS: Any disbursements or expenses we incur in carrying out our work for you will be added to our invoices, where appropriate. 

TAX ENQUIRY INSURANCE: We do not offer "tax enquiry insurance". If you hold a 3rd party policy, you agree to remain liable for any fees or costs we incur that are not covered by the insurance policy or paid promptly by the insurance company. 

TAX ENQUIRY TIME CREDITS: Our invoices may include free "Time Credits" at our total discretion. These time credits expire in A) late fee payment cases with immediate effect, B) 12 months after the invoice date, C) only apply to current clients at the time HMRC formally raise their enquiry, and D) cease immediately in the event that T4 Tax Limited ceases to trade, or our business is sold, or taken over by any 3rd party.

DISPUTES: All fee disputes must be raised in writing within 14 days of the invoice being issued.  

INTEREST: We reserve the right to charge interest on overdue accounts at the current rate under the late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998. 

COMMISSIONS: Commissions or other benefits received by us, you will be notified of in writing of the amount and payment terms. These commissions are only shared with a client by prior agreement in writing. 

COMPLIANCE COSTS: If it becomes necessary for us to liaise with, or make a report to a regulator or public sector body, as a result of any statutory duty imposed upon us by legislation or other regulation, including after our engagement has ended, we reserve the right to charge for work undertaken in accordance with these reporting duties. 

TERMINATION: If, for any reason, it becomes necessary for us to withdraw from the engagement, our fees or costs for work performed up to that date will be payable by you. 

Where any change of accountants or adviser takes place, we reserve the right to charge for the costs and time involved in passing records over to the new advisor.

NEXT - Privacy & Data Regulations

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PRIVACY, GDPR & DATA

In this section, the following definitions shall apply: 

1) "Client personal data" means any personal data provided to us by you, or on your behalf, for the purpose of providing our services to you. 

2) "Data protection legislation" means all applicable privacy and data protection legislation and regulations. This includes PECR, GDPR, electronic communications, and any applicable national laws or regulations in the UK. It also includes any new, amended, replaced, or updated regulations.

3) "Controller", "data subject", "personal data", and "process" have the meanings given to them in the data protection legislation: 

4) "GDPR" means the General Data Protection Act 2018 and any subsequent revisions or amendments; and 

5) "PECR" means the Privacy and Electronic Communications (EC Directive) Regulations 2003. 

WE ARE considered:

a) An independent data controller in relation to client personal data. 
b) Each of us will comply with all requirements and obligations. 

YOU ARE only required to disclose personal data to us where: 

A) The information is necessary and relevant to its use. 
B) Our privacy notice, available on our website, sets out its purpose. 
C) You have a lawful basis upon which to do so, or by willing consent.  
D) The documents enable us to verify your ID (Money Laundering Legislation).
E) Contact our Data Protection "Point of Contact" (search "Privacy Policy" on our website for details), if you require any further information. 

WE WILL only process the client personal data: 

i) In order to provide our services to you.
ii) In order to comply with our legal or regulatory obligations. 
iii) Our privacy notice, available via our website, contains further details as to how we may process client personal data. 
iv) For the purpose of providing our services to you we may disclose the client personal data to, members of our firm’s network, our regulatory bodies, or other third parties (for example, our professional advisors or service providers). 
v) The third parties to whom we disclose such personal data may be located outside of the European Economic Area (EEA). We will only disclose client personal data to a third party (including a third party outside of the EEA) provided that the transfer is undertaken in compliance with the data protection legislation.  
vi) We maintain commercially reasonable and appropriate security measures, including administrative, physical and technical safeguards, to protect against unauthorised or unlawful processing of the client personal data and against accidental loss or destruction of, or damage to, the client personal data. 

In respect of the client personal data, provided that we are legally permitted to do so, we shall promptly notify you in the event that: 

vii) We receive a request or complaint from, or on behalf of, a relevant data subject, to exercise their data subject rights under the data protection legislation. 
viii) We are served with an information, enforcement or assessment notice (or any similar notices), or 
ix) Receive any other material communication in respect of our processing of the client personal data from a supervisory authority as defined in the data protection legislation (for example in the UK, the Information Commissioner’s Officer); or 
x) We believe that there has been any incident which resulted in the accidental or unauthorised access to, or destruction, loss, unauthorised disclosure, or alteration of, the client personal data. 
xi) Upon reasonable request of the other, we will each co-operate with the other and take such reasonable commercial steps or provide such information as is necessary to enable each of us to comply with the data protection legislation in respect of the services provided to you in accordance with our engagement agreement(s) with you in relation to those services. 

CONFIDENTIALITY: We confirm that where you give us confidential information, we shall at all times keep it confidential, except as required by law or as provided for in regulatory, ethical or other professional pronouncements (such as by our insurers, or part of an external peer review) applicable to our engagement.  

We may, on occasions, subcontract work on your affairs to other tax or accounting professionals.  The subcontractors will be bound by our client confidentiality terms. 

We reserve the right, for the purpose of promotional activity, training or for other business purpose, to mention that you are a client.  As stated above, we will not disclose any confidential information. 

You, acknowledge and agree that it is impossible for us to guarantee the security of the Personal Information and other data with absolute certainty and that the use of cloud computing services may therefore entail certain risks. 

We shall only be responsible if it has finally judicially been determined that we did not take commercially reasonable measures to protect the Personal Information and other data from unauthorised disclosure. 

You agree that it will be sufficient compliance with our duty of confidence for us to take such steps as we in good faith think fit to preserve confidential information both during and after the termination of this engagement.

NEXT - Client Records

Agree & Continue

CLIENT RECORDS

CLIENT RECORDS RETENTION & ACCESS

It is an HMRC legal requirement that taxpayers have a legal responsibility to retain documents and records relevant to their financial affairs.

During the course of our work:

1) We will collect information from you and others relevant to your tax and financial affairs. 
2) We usually only need copies of documents from you, which we will retain. 
3) It is YOUR legal responsibility to retain the original documents and records relevant to your affairs.
4) Generally, HMRC require that YOU MUST retain records for six years from the end of the accounting period or tax year concerned.
5) Certain documents may legally belong to you, however,
6) We may destroy documents that we store, which are more than 10 years old, 
7) Except for documents which we consider to be of continued significance.  
8) If you require retention of any documents for any longer period, you must notify us of that fact in writing. 
9) We reserve the right to keep documents for longer than the 10 year period, where we are of the opinion that retention might be useful for either legal or practical reasons.
10) If you want our records we hold destroyed you will need to request that.
11) If some of your records are part of an archived, consolidated backup, in conjunction with other client records, and are not easily deleted in isolation, we reserve the right to leave those records archived until that data backup is deleted or destroyed as a whole.

NEXT - Communications, cloud storage etc.

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ELECTRONIC, CLOUD & OTHER COMMUNICATIONS

ELECTRONIC AND OTHER COMMUNICATION

Electronic communications are capable of non-receipt, delayed receipt, inadvertent misdirection or interception by third parties and therefore, we do not accept any responsibility for changes made to such communications after their despatch.  

It may, therefore, be inappropriate to rely on advice contained in an e-mail without obtaining other confirmation of it.  

As electronic communication is not totally secure, we do not accept responsibility for any errors or problems that may arise through the use of electronic communications and all risk connected with sending sensitive information relating to the entity are borne by you.  

Electronic communications and data sharing achieve greater efficiency and lower costs, and therefore are our preferred method of communication. If you are not prepared to accept the risks of electronic communications you should NOT continue with this agreement, and we will not be able to act on your behalf.  Furthermore, HMRC often, if not usually, require the submission of returns, documents etc. by electronic means, i.e. making it mandatory. 

It is the responsibility of the recipient to carry out a virus check on any e-mails and attachments received.  

However, we do use virus-scanning software to reduce the risk of viruses and similar damaging items being transmitted through e-mails or electronic storage devices. 

Any communication by us with you sent through the United Kingdom postal system is deemed to arrive at your postal address two working days after the day that the document was sent. 

Where possible and practical we will endeavour to encrypt email and other communications and data for added security and protection of the information.

CLOUD COMPUTING & ONLINE STORAGE

CLOUD & DIGITAL COMPUTING: You hereby explicitly acknowledge and consent that we may make use of cloud computing services to store personal Information and other data relating to you. 

We will use commercially reasonable security technologies (such as encryption, password protection and firewall protection) to protect this Personal Information and other data from unauthorised disclosure.

NEXT - Professional Insurance

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PROFESSIONAL INDEMNITY INSURANCE

PROFESSIONAL INDEMNITY INSURANCE (2009 Regs)

In accordance with the disclosure requirements of the Provision of Services Regulations 2009", our professional indemnity insurer is arranged via our membership of the ICPA (Independent Certified Practising Accountant) and is with:

 Axa Insurance UK plc via Rhino Protect Limited (Broker), of 

Website:  https://www.axa.co.uk/

OR, such insurance or insurance company that we might subsequently replace this insurance with (current insurance available on request)

NEXT - Audit & Auditor Regulations

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AUDIT & AUDITOR REGULATIONS

AUDITS (2009 Regs)

In accordance with the disclosure requirements of the Provision of Services Regulations 2009", we are not "auditors" and therefore do not provide audit services.

If audit services were needed, we will endeavour to provide a recommendation of an independent audit practitioner to our client.

NEXT - Intellectual Property Rights

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INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS

We will retain all copyright in any document prepared by us except where the law specifically provides otherwise.

NEXT - Staff & Employees

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STAFF & EMPLOYEES

OUR STAFF

Our staff are assigned to you:

On the mutual understanding that, 

a) Neither party will offer employment to, nor employ, the staff of the other, 
b) Who have been involved during the assignment, or dealing with you, 
c) Within 12 months unless,

Written consent has been obtained from either party.

If such consent is given either party reserves the right to bill an appropriate fee of 25% of annual current salary on appointment, plus VAT.

Our staff should be treated with respect at all times and failure to abide by this can lead to us terminating the engagement agreements with immediate effect.

NEXT - Limitation of Liability

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LIMITATION OF LIABILITY

We will provide our professional services with reasonable care and skill.  

Our liability to you is limited to losses, damages, costs and expenses caused by our negligence, wilful default or breach of contract.  

However, to the fullest extent permitted by law, we will not be responsible for any losses, penalties, surcharges, interest or additional tax liabilities arising from the supply by you or others of incorrect or incomplete information, or yours or others’ failure to supply any appropriate information or your failure to act on our advice or respond promptly to communications from us or any public sector body (such as HMRC). 

You agree to hold harmless and indemnify us, our principals, subcontractors and staff, to the fullest extent permitted by law, for any loss suffered by you arising from any misrepresentation (intentional or unintentional) supplied to us orally or in writing in connection with this agreement.  You have agreed that you will not bring any claim in connection with services we provide to you against any of our principals or staff personally. 

We will endeavour to record all advice on important matters in writing.  Advice given orally is not intended to be relied upon unless confirmed in writing.  

Therefore, if we provide oral advice (for example, during the course of a meeting or a telephone conversation) and you wish to be able to rely on that advice, you must ask for the advice to be confirmed by us in writing. 

Our work is not, unless there is a legal or regulatory requirement, to be made available to third parties without our written permission and we will accept no responsibility to third parties for any aspect of our professional services or work that is made available to them.

LIMITATION OF THIRD PARTY RIGHTS

A person who is not party to this Agreement shall have no rights under the Contracts (Rights of Third Parties) Act 1999 to enforce any term of this Agreement.  

This clause does not affect any right or remedy of any person, which exists or is available otherwise than pursuant to that Act. 

The advice, which we give you, is for your sole use and does not constitute advice to any third party to whom you may communicate it unless we have expressly agreed in the letter of engagement that a specified third party may rely on our work.  We accept no responsibility to third parties, including any group company to whom the engagement agreement is not addressed for any aspect of our professional services or work that is made available to them.

NEXT - Law & Interpretation

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LAW & INTERPRETATION

APPLICABLE LAW

These Terms of Business, in conjunction with any additional engagement agreement are governed by, and construed in accordance with, English law.  

Each party agrees that the Courts of England will have exclusive jurisdiction in relation to any claim, dispute or difference concerning these Terms of Business in conjunction with any letter of engagement and any matter arising from it.  

Each party irrevocably waives any right it may have to object to an action being brought in those Courts, to claim that the action has been brought in an inappropriate forum, or to claim that those Courts do not have jurisdiction.

INTERPRETATION

If any engagement provision is held to be void, then that provision will be deemed not to form part of this contract.  

In the event of any conflict between these General Terms of Business and any individual engagement service agreement, the relevant provision in the individual engagement agreement will take precedence.

NEXT - Feedback and sign

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FEEDBACK & SIGN

Next, Finally sign this engagement agreement

How easy did you find this agreement to deal with?

1 star = very difficult to 5 stars = easy

Your comments, feedback or suggestions (if any)

You need to select and agree to all the following:

I confirm I have read, understood and agree to the General Terms of Business

You need to select and agree to all the following:

GDPR (Data and Privacy Regulations): I agree to submitting and maintaining this information or documentation with T4 Tax Limited via this website.

You need to select and agree to all the following:

T4 use MailChimp.com if we need to send emails globally to all clients, or groups of clients. I consent to this submission automatically adding or updating my email address in T4's MailChimp.com account. (We or you can remove it later if you cease to be a client, for example).

Signature

Clear

PLEASE ALLOW 30 SECONDS for the form to submit. MAKE SURE ALL RED * Questions ARE ANSWERED. Your will get submission confirmation or by redirected to anything not completed.

T4 Tax Limited

Chartered Tax Advisers & Independent Certified Practising Accountants