Received vat bill from solitor.

Eoghan89

Hi, I recently purchased a house and 6 months after completion of sale etc I received a bill for vat on my solicitor fees as they say they forgot to add vat onto the bill.
Am I liable to pay this? Problem is I'm not in position to pay it as due to only just moving into house money is tight as all of our budget has been spent. Anyone any advise?

whomitconcerns

You have to pay vat. However as they forgot to tell you I would be insisting they are very accommodating to your payment schedule

4ensic15

Were you given a written estimate of the fee in advance? Were you given a statement of account showing a deduction of the same fee?

Eoghan89

4ensic15 wrote: »

Were you given a written estimate of the fee in advance? Were you given a statement of account showing a deduction of the same fee?

I received a estimate before hand but vat wasn't on it, nor did I notice it wasn't on it. Not sure if I was given statement after I'll have to check.

JimsAlterEgo

Eoghan89 wrote: »

I received a estimate before hand but vat wasn't on it, nor did I notice it wasn't on it. Not sure if I was given statement after I'll have to check.

assuming you are a consumer, their quote should have had VAT include. Business are not allowed quote ex-vat to consumers.

filbert the fox

JimsAlterEgo wrote: »

assuming you are a consumer, their quote should have had VAT include. Business are not allowed quote ex-vat to consumers.

except SOLICITORS of course :mad:

JimsAlterEgo

filbert the fox wrote: »

except SOLICITORS of course :mad:

are they?

filbert the fox

JimsAlterEgo wrote: »

are they?

Ask any Solicitor how much and they'll quote you ex VAT. It's their way I'm afraid:eek:

4ensic15

filbert the fox wrote: »

Ask any Solicitor how much and they'll quote you ex VAT. It's their way I'm afraid:eek:

Under Section 68 of the Solicitors Act 1994, solicitors are required to notify their clients of all charges in writing as soon as possible after taking instructions. The o/p should complain to the LAw Society.

Water John

I would say if their fees were reasonable and you may be using them again, pay it. But as some one else already said let them know you will do it in your own good time.
What are we talking about here, €400? Law Society, don't be daft. We can all make errors.

Pat Mustard

filbert the fox wrote: »

Ask any Solicitor how much and they'll quote you ex VAT. It's their way I'm afraid:eek:

In a verbal quote, what they are likely to say is something like:
€2,000 + VAT + Outlays.

In a written fee estimate, matters should be explained more clearly.

What seems to have happened here is that the solicitor made a mistake, and may not have mentioned VAT for whatever reason.

The reasonable approach would be to speak to the solicitor and see what they say about this VAT and to explain to said solicitor about the current financial difficulties.

Eoghan89

Water John wrote: »

I would say if their fees were reasonable and you may be using them again, pay it. But as some one else already said let them know you will do it in your own good time.
What are we talking about here, €400? Law Society, don't be daft. We can all make errors.

I certainly won't be using again considering they made a balls of everything. Had a draw down date for getting keys of new house gave notice to rented house and on day of draw down they hadn't made sure all paper work was ready and couldn't close sale. Delayed it a month in which we had to stay in a b&b for a month as my landlord had new Tennants to move in. And now to receive this bill is quite annoying.