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| STANDARD TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS 2010
1. Applicable Law and interpretation Our standard terms and conditions of business are governed by, and should be construed in accordance with, English law. “We” means Mr Harris and any person employed by him in Toby Harris Tax Consultancy. 2. Client identification We are required to identify our clients for the purposes of the UK anti-money laundering legislation. We may request from you, and retain, such information and documentation as we require for these purposes and/or make searches of appropriate databases. 3. Client money We may hold money on your behalf. Such money will be held in trust in a client bank account, which is segregated from the firm’s funds. 4. Complaints We are committed to providing you with a high quality service that is both efficient and effective. However, if there is any cause for complaint in relation to any aspect of our service please contact Mr Harris. We agree to look into any complaint carefully and promptly and do everything reasonable to put it right. If you are still not satisfied you can refer your complaint to one of our professional bodies, The Chartered Institute of Taxation or The Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners. 5. Confidentiality Communication between us is confidential. We shall take all reasonable steps to keep confidential your information except where we are required to disclose it by law, by regulatory bodies, or by our insurers. Unless we are authorised by you to disclose the information on your behalf this undertaking will apply during and after this engagement. 6. Conflicts of interest We will inform you if we become aware of any conflict of interest in our relationship with you or in our relationship with you and another client. Where conflicts are identified which cannot be managed in a way that protects your interests then we regret that we will be unable to provide further services. 7. Data Protection We will comply with the provisions of the Data Protection Act 1998 when processing personal data about you and your family. To carry out our work for you and for related purposes we may obtain, process, use and disclose personal data about you. 8. Electronic and other communication Unless you instruct us otherwise we may, where appropriate, communicate with you and with third parties via email or by other electronic means. The recipient is responsible for virus checking emails and any attachments. Emailing carries risks: we use virus-scanning software to reduce the risk of viruses etc. but we cannot be held responsible for damage or loss caused by viruses nor for communications which are corrupted or altered after despatch, nor for problems or accidental errors relating to this means of communication. You must bear these risks in return for greater efficiency and lower costs. If you do not wish to accept these risks please let us know and we will communicate by paper mail, other than where electronic submission is mandatory. Any communication by us with you sent through the post system is deemed to arrive at your postal address two working days after posting. 9. Fees and payment terms Our fees may depend not only upon the time spent on your affairs but also on the level of skill and responsibility and the importance and value of the advice that we provide, as well as the level of risk. Our principal place of business is in Norwich. If you require us to work at any other location we may charge for travelling time. As a rule, we charge one-half only of such travelling time. If we provide you with an estimate of our fees for any specific work, then the estimate will not be contractually binding unless we explicitly state that that will be the case. Where requested we may indicate a fixed fee or an indicative range. If it becomes apparent to us, due to unforeseen circumstances, that a fee quoted is inadequate, we reserve the right to notify you of a revised figure or range and to seek your agreement. For 2010 our normal hourly rates are: Geoff Clark, £170; Iris Wunschmann Lyall and Toby Harris £230. Discounted rates for Norfolk are: Geoff Clark £160; Iris Wunschmann Lyall and Toby Harris £200. These rates will be reviewed on 31st December each year. We may, at our discretion, bill monthly. Our invoices are due for payment upon presentation. Our fees are exclusive of VAT which will be added where it is chargeable. Any disbursements we incur on your behalf and expenses incurred in the course of carrying out our work for you will be added to our invoices where appropriate. We may ask you for security before instructing Counsel or paying disbursements for you. Our fees do not include the costs of any third party, counsel or other professional fees. We reserve the right to charge interest on late paid invoices at the rate of 5% above bank base rates under the Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998. We also reserve the right to suspend our services or to cease to act for you on giving written notice if payment of any fees is unduly delayed. We intend to exercise these rights only where it is fair and reasonable to do so. If you do not accept that an invoiced fee is fair and reasonable you must notify us within 14 days of receipt, failing which you will be deemed to have accepted that payment is due. 10. Interpretation If any provision of these Terms and Conditions 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 Terms and any engagement letter, the relevant provision in the engagement letter will take precedence. 11. Investment advice (including insurance mediation services) We do not provide investment advice. 12. Lien Insofar as we are permitted to so by law or professional guidelines, we reserve the right to exercise a lien over all funds, documents and records in our possession relating to all engagements for you until all outstanding fees and disbursements are paid in full. 13. Limitation of liability We will provide our services with reasonable care and skill. Our liability to you is limited to losses, damages, costs and expenses caused by our negligence or wilful default. Exclusion of liability for loss caused by others We will not be liable if such losses, penalties, surcharges, interest or additional tax liabilities are due to the acts or omissions of any other person or due to the provision to us of incomplete, misleading or false information or if they are due to a failure to act on our advice or a failure to provide us with relevant information. Exclusion of liability in relation to circumstances beyond our control We will not be liable to you for any delay or failure to perform our obligations under these Terms if the delay or failure is caused by circumstances outside our reasonable control. Exclusion of liability relating to the discovery of fraud etc We will not be responsible or liable for any loss, damage or expense incurred or sustained if information material to the service we are providing is withheld or concealed from us or misrepresented to us. This applies equally to fraudulent acts, misrepresentation or wilful default on the part of any party to the transaction and their directors, officers, employees, agents or advisers. This exclusion shall not apply where such misrepresentation, withholding or concealment is or should (in carrying out the procedures which we have agreed to perform with reasonable care and skill) have been evident to us without further enquiry. Indemnity for unauthorised disclosure You agree to indemnify us and our agents in respect of any claim (including any claim for negligence) arising out of any unauthorised disclosure by you or by any person for whom you are responsible of our advice and opinions, whether in writing or otherwise. This indemnity will extend to the cost of defending any such claim, including payment at our usual rates for the time that we spend in defending it. Limitation of aggregate liability Our aggregate liability to you shall not exceed two million pounds. That sum shall be the maximum aggregate liability of this consultancy, its principal, agents and employees to all persons to whom these Terms shall apply and also by any other person that we have agreed with you may rely on our work. By signing these Terms you agree that you have given proper consideration to this limit and accept that it is reasonable in all the circumstances. If you do not wish to accept it you should contact us to discuss it before accepting these Terms. 14. Limitation of Third Party Rights The advice and information we provide to you as part of our service is for your sole use and not for any third party to whom you may communicate it unless we have expressly agreed that a specified third party may rely on our work. We accept no responsibility to third parties, for any advice, information or material produced as part of our work for you which you make available to them. A party to this agreement is the only person who has the right under the Contracts (Rights of Third Parties) Act 1999 to enforce any of its terms. 15. Period of engagement and termination Unless otherwise agreed in the engagement covering letter our work will begin when we receive your implicit or explicit acceptance of that letter. Acceptance may be by electronic means, including through our website. Except as stated in any letter of engagement we will not be responsible for periods before that date. Each of us may terminate this agreement by giving not less than 21 days’ notice in writing to the other party except where you fail to cooperate with us or we have reason to believe that you have provided us or HMRC with misleading information, in which case we may terminate this agreement immediately. Termination will be without prejudice to any rights that may have accrued to either of us prior to termination. In the event of termination of this contract, we will endeavour to agree with you the arrangements for the completion of work in progress at that time, unless we are required for legal or regulatory reasons to cease work immediately. In that event, we shall not be required to carry out further work and shall not be responsible or liable for any consequences arising from termination. 16. Professional rules and statutory obligations We will observe and act in accordance with the bye-laws, regulations and ethical guidelines of The Chartered Institution of Taxation and The Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners and will accept instructions to act for you on this basis. In particular you give us the authority to correct errors made by HMRC where we become aware of them. We will not be liable for any loss, damage or cost arising from our compliance with statutory or regulatory obligations. 17. Reliance on advice 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. 18. Retention of papers You have a legal responsibility to retain documents and records relevant to your tax affairs. During the course of our work we may collect information from you and others relevant to your tax affairs. We will return any original documents to you if requested. Whilst certain documents may legally belong to you we may destroy correspondence and other papers that we store, electronically or otherwise, which are more than 7 years old. You must tell us if you require the return or retention of any specific documents for a longer period. 19. Solicitors’ Practice Rules 1988 We do not practise as solicitors. |
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