Terms of Engagement

Between Then Tax Refunds Ltd (“Us”, “We”, “Ours”) and (“You, Yours”)

1. OUR SERVICES

1.1 What we will do:

(a) We will undertake an Initial Assessment

(b) Based on the information you provide, if there is a valid potential claim for a PPI-related Tax Refund Claim then, subject to these terms of engagement, we may submit a Tax Form R40, (Claim for a refund of Income Tax deducted from savings and investments), Self-Assessment Amendment Claim, or Overpayment Relief Claim on your behalf and act as your agent and nominee for the purposes of making such a claim.

(c) Based on the information you provide, if there is a valid potential claim for a Non PPI-related Tax Refund Claim then, subject to these terms of engagement, we may submit a Tax Form P87 (Claim for income tax relief for your employment expenses) and/or a Marriage Allowance Claim on your behalf and act as your agent and nominee for the purposes of making such a claim.

(d) We will submit a Tax Form 64-8 (Authorising your agent) to HMRC on your behalf, allowing us to act as your agent and nominee.

(e) Tax Form R40, Tax Form 64-8, Self-Assessment Amendment Claim Form, Overpayment Relief Claim Form, Tax Form P87 and Marriage Allowance Claim Form are collectively referred to as the “Tax Form(s)” where relevant.

(f) Notwithstanding the submission to HMRC of a Tax Form R40 and/or a Tax Form P87 we will act as your agent and nominee, solely for the purposes and activities expressly set out in these terms of engagement. We shall not be responsible for the provision of tax or financial advice more generally, nor shall we be obliged to act as your agent and nominee for other individual or business tax affairs unless we have expressly agreed otherwise with you in writing. In entering into a Contract for the supply of our Services with us you acknowledge that:

(i) you shall remain responsible for all tax affairs and submissions to HMRC and/or any other relevant tax authorities save for those submissions which we have expressly agreed to undertake on your behalf in these terms of engagement; and

(ii) neither the performance by us of the Services nor the onward payment to you of any tax refund which is received as a result shall constitute advice on your individual or business tax affairs more generally, including whether it is appropriate for you to bring any tax refund claim in your circumstances or to accept any tax refund payment offered by HMRC as a result of our Services. Accordingly, you are encouraged to obtain independent tax advice if you require more general advice on your tax affairs outside of the Services.

1.2 What you agree to do:

(a) You agree to provide us with full and accurate information regarding:

(i) any PPI repayment claims which you have made;

(ii) details in relation to any Non PPI-related Tax Refund Claims which you would like for us to assess as part of our Initial Assessment; and

(iii) all such information regarding your more general tax affairs in the relevant tax years as may be reasonably required by us to enable us to undertake the Services, including your national insurance number, details of your relevant tax code bracket and any other information related to the use of your savings allowance.

(b) You agree to provide to us information which, to the best of your knowledge and belief, is correct. We don’t verify the information you give us unless we have expressly agreed to do so. We will submit a claim on your behalf based on the information provided to us and take no responsibility for the effect that the accuracy of this information has on the outcome of your claim.

(c) You agree that, where requested by us for the purposes of providing the Services to you, you will enter into such written documents as may reasonably be required to give us authority to:

(i) make such Data Subject Access Requests in accordance with Article 15 of the retained EU Law version of the General Data Protection Regulation;

(ii) undertake such soft or full search credit checks, as may be reasonably necessary for us to provide the Services;

(iii) receive relevant data for us to process your claim(s) from third parties, including but not limited to Allay.

(d) Based on the information you provide us, if there is a valid potential claim for a PPI-related Tax Refund Claim, or if there is a valid potential claim for a Non PPI-related Tax Refund Claim you agree to:

(i) complete and sign the relevant Tax Form(s) and authorise us to submit these to HMRC on your behalf so that we may act as your agent and nominee for the purposes of making such a claim. This means that any repayment which may be due to you in respect of the claim will be paid to us on your behalf;

(e) Where you have already signed and submitted any Tax Form(s) to us and that tax form requires missing and/or updated information which you subsequently submit to us (such as national insurance number details / tax code information, claim values etc), then you authorise us to amend the relevant Tax Form on your behalf.

(f) You agree to provide us with your bank account details so that we may pay any tax refund which we receive from HMRC as your agent and nominee as a result of the Services (after deduction of our Fee), directly to you by way of bank transfer.

(g) You agree to tell us straight away if your contact or repayment/bank account details change or if you appoint an alternative tax agent at any time after having signed the Tax Form 64-8 authorising us to act as your tax agent.

1.3 It is entirely at the discretion of HMRC to accept the submission of any tax refund claim which we may seek to submit on your behalf and/or to progress any tax refund claim which has been submitted. For example, HMRC may from time to time impose restrictions on the number of claims which may be accepted for submission and/or processed in any period. Accordingly, we can give no representation or guarantees in relation to the time frame for the acceptance or processing by HMRC of any tax claim made by us on your behalf or the performance by us of the Services more generally.

2. YOUR CONTRACT WITH US

2.1 Subject to paragraph 2.2 below, the contract between you and us for the provision of the Services by us and which shall incorporate these terms of engagement (the “Contract“), shall come into effect on the date on which you sign to indicate your acceptance and consent to these terms of engagement (“Commencement Date“).

2.2 You acknowledge and agree that, notwithstanding the commencement of the Contract in accordance with paragraph 2.1 above, we are unable to provide the Services until we have received all of the written documents of authority which are reasonably required by us to perform the Services (as set out at paragraph 1.1 above). We shall have no liability to you to the extent that any failure by us to perform the Services or any part thereof has arisen as a result of:

(a) your failure to provide the information and any written documents of authority which are reasonably required by us to perform the Services, or

(b) you having withdrawn your authority for us to act as your agent and nominee (to the extent that the relevant part of the Services requires us to act as your nominee or agent); or

(c) you having appointed an alternative tax agent meaning that we are unable to be appointed as your tax agent (to the extent that the relevant part of the Services requires us to do so).

2.3 Where you are engaging our Services online or over the telephone you have a period of 14 days from the Commencement Date during which you may change your mind and cancel the contract between us for the Services. Please note however that you will lose the right to cancel if the relevant Services have already been completed prior to our receipt of your notice of cancellation. In these circumstances the cancellation Fee due to us for any Services which we provide up to the date of cancellation will be payable. The cancellation fee payable by you is our average fee calculated on the date of cancellation.

2.4 If you wish to cancel the contract for Services during the 14 day cancellation period then you should contact us at cancellations@then.tax.

2.5 You acknowledge that, once we have performed the Services, it is entirely at the discretion of HMRC to accept any tax refund claim and/or to cancel any refund claim which is in progress. Even where you have cancelled the Contract between you and us within the 14 day cancellation period, it may not be possible to cancel any refund claim that is in progress at HMRC.

2.6 The information you have provided to us:

We will submit your refund request to HMRC using the information you have confirmed with us, as shown above.

3. OUR FEES

3.1 Our Services are provided to you on a “No-Win, No-Fee” basis. This means that:

(a) There will be no charge to you where our Initial Assessment is that no potential claim for the relevant type of tax refund from HMRC exists; and

(b) There will be no charge to you in the event that we make a tax refund claim to HMRC as your nominee or as your agent (where relevant) and that specific tax refund claim is unsuccessful.

3.2 Our Fee will be due and payable in the event that a tax refund is authorised by HMRC in relation to any Tax Form(s) (as relevant) which we have submitted as part of the Services. Our Fee will remain due and payable even in circumstances where you:

(a) choose to reject or otherwise not accept any refund which has been authorised by HMRC; or

(b) withdraw your Tax Form(s) (as relevant); or

(c) otherwise withdraw your authority for us to act as your nominee or as your agent (where relevant) or

(d) cancel your tax refund claim directly with HMRC at any time after we have performed the Services.

3.3 In the event HMRC make or offer to make a payment directly to you in relation to any Tax Form(s) (as relevant) which we have submitted as part of the Services, you must notify us of any such payment and you will be liable to us for the payment of the relevant Fee which is payable to us in accordance with these terms of engagement.

3.4 In circumstances where we do not know the exact amount of refund which has been authorised to be paid to you (e.g. because you have withdrawn your authority for us to act as your nominee or you have failed to inform us of a refund which was authorised as a result of our Services and which has been paid directly to you by HMRC), then we reserve the right to apply our Fee to such estimated tax refund amount as we may reasonably calculate as being due to you on the basis of the initial information which you have submitted to us.

3.5 Subject to the payment of our Minimum Fee (as discussed at paragraph 3.12 below), the fee for our Services is a sum equivalent to 40% plus VAT of any tax refund which is authorised to be paid to you by HMRC in relation to any Tax Form(s) (as relevant) which we have submitted as part of the Services (collectively, the “Fee“).

3.6 In the event that HMRC make a subsequent assessment of the tax refund you have been issued, deem the refund invalid, and request a repayment of the refund in full, our fee will remain entirely due to us by you and will be non-refundable.

3.7 We accept no responsibility for any delay or failure to issue the relevant refund to you as a result of HMRC providing insufficient information to allow us to correctly identify that the refund is yours. In these circumstances we will take all reasonable steps to gain the required confirmation from HMRC.

3.8 HMRC, at its sole discretion, may off-set any refund sums which it authorises as payable to you as a result of our Services, against outstanding tax liabilities owed by you to HMRC. In these circumstances a reduced or no tax refund may be received by you even where a successful tax refund claim has been made. Our Fee would still be payable to us in these circumstances and would be calculated on the basis of the total amount of tax refund which was authorised by HMRC and not the total amount of tax refund which is actually received. Subject to paragraph 3.12, you shall be liable to us in the event that there is any shortfall in the amount of Fee owed to us and the amount of tax refund which we actually receive as your agent and nominee.

3.9 Refunds from HMRC will be paid directly to us as your nominee (or, where relevant, as your agent) and our Fee will be deducted prior to our onward payment of those refund sums to you.

3.10 In the event that any other refunds or sums are sent to us by HMRC as a result of us acting as your nominee or agent, but which do not relate to a Tax Form(s) (as relevant) which we have submitted as part of the Services; then we shall refuse payment of such refunds or sums to our account (e.g. we may return the relevant cheque to HMRC). Where it is not possible to refuse payment of the relevant refunds or sums (e.g. because such refund or sums are combined with tax refunds which we are due to receive as your nominee) then our Fee would be applied to such elements of the refund or sums which relate to the Services we have performed only. All other elements of such refund or sums which do not relate to the performance by us of the Services would be paid on to you in full, without deduction of our Fee.

3.11 We may from time to time at our discretion agree with you that the percentage amount of Fee payable to us from you shall be less than the 40% plus VAT discussed at paragraph 3.5 above. We will discuss this with you where relevant.

3.12 A minimum fee of £10 (the “Minimum Fee“) applies to our Services. In the event that any refund obtained from HMRC on your behalf is less than or equal to this Minimum Fee then we will, close your case, and 100% of the refund obtained will be retained by us as payment for the services (unless we have agreed otherwise).

3.13 Subject to paragraph 3.8 above, we will make onward payment of any refund sums due to you from HMRC (following deduction of our Fee), by:

(a) bank transfer to such personal bank account as you have notified to us; or

(b) via a designated e-money account which we will open in your name. Where payment is made into an e-money account, you may draw down the relevant refund sums yourself or you may opt to use such funds directly from the designated e-money account.

3.14 In the event that we are unable to make payment to you by bank transfer or via a designated e-money account, either because you have failed to submit to us correct bank account details, or you have failed to provide us with any documentation we request in order to satisfy our AML obligations, or otherwise, then, subject to paragraph 3.15 below, we shall make payment to you by cheque or such alternative method of payment as may be agreed between us.

3.15 An administration fee of £15 (the “Admin Fee“) will apply to all onward payment methods, including cheques, except for bank transfer made directly to your own personal account or payment to a designated e-money account which we have opened in your name. Any Admin Fee payable to us shall be deducted by us prior to onward payment to you of any refund sums due.

3.16 A separate Admin Fee may be charged by us in respect of each additional attempt we are required to make to effect payment of any sums due to you (including contact via SMS, email or telephone, the re-issue of any cheques to you or the resending of sums via bank transfers where the initial bank account details supplied by you were incorrect), unless such additional payment attempts are required as a result of our actions.

3.17 Subject to paragraph 3.8 above, we shall take all reasonable steps to effect onward payment to you of any sums which we have received from HMRC on your behalf, during which period of time your portion of your refund shall remain in our client account. However, in the event that:

(a) We have contacted you no fewer than 10 times to try and arrange for payment of sums to you; and

(b) we are unable to effect any onward payment due to you within a period of 6 months from the date on which the relevant sum has been received by us from HMRC on your behalf; and

(c) such failure to effect repayment has arisen as a result of your actions, e.g. your failure to provide us with valid bank account details, your failure to authorise us to pay a designated e-money account, your failure to provide us with any documentation we request in order to satisfy our AML obligations, or your failure to cash any cheque issued to you by us within a period of 6 months;

then we shall reserve the right to donate any refund sums which we have received from HMRC on your behalf to a charity of our choice (following deduction of any Fees and Admin Fees which are due to us, including an additional Fee due for the onward payment to a charity). Where any sums are donated to charity in accordance with this paragraph then we shall have no further liability to you whatsoever in respect of the payment of any such sums.

4. IMPORTANT INFORMATION

4.1 You understand and agree that you could pursue a claim for a tax refund from HMRC independently for free, without the use of our Services or, alternatively, by using a registered Tax Agent of your choosing.

4.2 You acknowledge that any tax refunds by HMRC are made at the sole discretion of HMRC. Accordingly, in performing the Services (including the submission of any refund claim to HMRC on your behalf) we make no representation nor give any guarantee that your claim will be successful, nor that any refund will be obtained. Any example assessments of potential refunds which may be obtained are included for illustrative purposes only.

4.3 We shall have no liability to you in the event that HMRC refuses any tax refund claim or issues any incorrect tax refunds to you as a result of:

(a) any information which you have supplied to us having been incorrect;

(b) your failure to provide in a timely manner, any information which is requested by us or by HMRC in order to process your claim(s)

(c) HMRC determining you are in arrears; or

(d) you being and/or having been declared insolvent, either by way of Bankruptcy Order and/or Debt Relied Order.

4.4 Nothing in the Contract or these terms of engagement limits any liability which cannot legally be limited, including without limitation liability for death or personal injury caused by negligence, fraud or fraudulent misrepresentation.

4.5 Subject to paragraph 4.4, if you are a business, we will not be liable to you, whether in contract, tort (including negligence), for breach of statutory duty or otherwise, arising under or in connection with these terms of engagement for any indirect or consequential loss.

4.6 Subject to paragraph 4.4, we will not be liable to you, whether in contract, tort (including negligence), for breach of statutory duty or otherwise, arising under or in connection with these terms of engagement of any Contract which incorporates them, for any loss arising as a result of:

(a) our complying with our legal and regulatory duties, such as delays or disclosures arising in the context of compliance with anti-money laundering legislation;

(b) circumstances beyond our reasonable control (for example, any outages or delays suffered by HMRC).

4.7 You agree that any or all of our obligations under the Contract may be transferred to one or more replacement provider(s) by giving you notice via written or electronic communication. If you’re unhappy with the transfer, you can end the Contract between us within 5 business days of us telling you about the transfer.

4.8 The benefit of any or all of our rights under or relating to the Contract may be assigned to any of our affiliates, funders, investors, or any other third party, without prior notice to you.

4.9 You can only transfer your Contract with us to someone else if we agree to this.

4.10 Nobody else has any rights under the Contract. The Contract is between you and us. Nobody else can enforce it and neither of us will need to ask anybody else to sign-off on ending or changing it.

4.11 If a court invalidates some of the Contract, the rest of it will still apply. If a court or other authority decides that some of the terms included within these terms of engagement are unlawful, the rest will continue to apply.

4.12 Even if we delay in enforcing the Contract, we can still enforce it later. We might not immediately chase you for doing something you’re not allowed to, but that doesn’t mean that we can’t do this later.

4.13 We may from time to time make changes to the Services, the Contract, our privacy policy or these terms of engagement of which we are required to reflect changes in relevant laws and regulatory requirements. Where we wish to make changes which are not required by relevant laws or regulatory requirements, then we shall notify you of these changes.

4.14 We will use your personal data as set out in our privacy notice. www.then.tax/privacy-policy.

4.15 These terms of engagement and the Contract are governed by English law and you and we agree that the courts of England and Wales shall have exclusive jurisdiction to settle any dispute or claim (including non-contractual disputes or claims) arising out of or in connection with its subject matter or formation.

Please note, the above Terms and Conditions were in place from 08/12/2023. If you signed up to our services prior to this date, please follow this link to view the Terms and Conditions applicable from previous dates www.then.tax/terms-conditions-previous