French Accountant - How much for a Micro Tax Return

[Panda]

Hi

Can anyone give an average of how much it should cost for a french accountant to prepare a tax return for a micro.  I should add I only raise 4 invoices per year to one company so pretty straight forward.

Before anyone says do it yourself, I should have, I didn't and now have a huge bill which I am hoping to argue about.

Sorry if it's a how long is a piece of string type question but I would like to have a rough idea or whether I've been taken for a ride on this one before I start chucking my toys!

Thanks Panda

[Llwyncelyn]

Newtothis it would be an impossible concept to compare and contrast for charging mechanisms vary throughout France and whilst one could take a stab it is not by any means an exact science.

However what I can tell you is that I used a great local accountant (50) well connected a specialist for the Cour d'Appel of Caen and obviously an expert comptable.

My affairs were not only based upon earned and unearned income but annuities rental from investments and dividend earnings (and before I am taken apart we are talking small beer here!) My wife's affairs were in a similar mode.  We made schedules ourselves of every facet of our earnings and provided copy statements from the banks and whatever.  Thus we did the leg work.  Then we had an hours meeting with the accountant he did a few letters got us to sign a few letters and then charged us 110 euros plus TVA.

He has a large practice including ever growing numbers of our fellow countrymen and women!

rdgs

[Will]

The accountant we use - not the cheapest but certainly not the most expensive, and in my opinion one of the best - quoted 850€ for a micro business a couple of years back, including his TVA, the fee including taxation and cotisations advice throughout the year. Just to give an idea, for the first trading year we did the returns ourselves, for subsequent years we used the accountant because we were just above the micro limit - we ended up paying lower taxes etc than in the first year, more than covering the accountant's fees, despite the bigger turnover. Even for a micro, business accounting involves substantially more than for personal taxation.

[Sola]

Obviously as stated it is impossible to be exact...we found a local expert comptable who does all of our accounts, tax return, TVA etc. All we do is scan in all reciepts and invoices etc and send each month via their secure website....they do everything else....We thought it would cost a fortune as we had experience of accountants in the UK who charged a small fortune just to produce a yearly account on an official piece of paper with us having to do all the leg work....we were very plesently surprised when the bill came here in France...approx 1/3 the cost compared to what we paid in  the UK for far more work from them...and we don't have to worry about what to fill in on our tax return and we get good advice too....[:)]

Why not go to see a few accountants and get a quote? they should be able to give you an idea of the costs and the services they can offer..

good luck[:)]

[Panda]

Thanks for the feedback, I know it's a weird questions but our bill for last year was euro 1350 plus TVA, from what you've said I think I've been done! 

We supplied everything copies of invoices etc. we had one 30 minute meeting in Feb and then had to chase in July to find out why the various agencies were stating we had not made a return, the accountant had not submitted one and so had to do so in July. 

I have written 4 letters of complaint about the bill but they have not come back to me.  When I acutally got hold of the accountant he said that the return had taken 35 hours, now I know the returns are not straight forward but to add 4 numbers together and put them in the right place in a few forms canot have taken that long can it?  I have a feeling he has confused us with another client, a friend who is an electrician told me a few days a go that when his wife went into see him a few weeks back he started talking about my situation! 

The accountant has now left the practice and the practice won't talk to me about the bill, I am tempted to sit it out, continue to send letters and wait for them to acknowledge my complaint..