Help with Legal Questions about Income Tax

Questioner

Good day, My friend left the partnership in May 2015 that he was in with his brother, which continued as a sole proprietorship. It was then verbally agreed that all bills would be paid by his brother. This has always been done for all the years that the partnership existed. Unfortunately, his brother did not comply, which means that my friend now has to pay income tax for 2014 and 2015. Now the 2015 assessment states that his aggregate income is a certain amount, which is completely incorrect. My friend has always received a monthly 'wage' and this is almost as much as what he now has to pay in income tax. Because we have the feeling that this is all not right, we also want to have this investigated by another accountant. Now the accountant who has been doing the bookkeeping for the partnership for years has only wanted to hand over the 2015 annual accounts with great pain and effort, the rest that we need we do not get because he wants to keep the contact he has with my friend's brother good. How can we now find out that my friend has not paid too much income tax and how can we obtain the documents we need to have this investigated via the accountant? Since we are not at all familiar with this ourselves, we don't really know where to start.

Lawyer

Has there been any contact with the brother? I advise to talk to him. If this does not work, you can, if necessary, request the accounting/administration documents through the court. I am happy to help you.

Questioner

We have tried to contact him several times, but no response has been given to emails and we cannot reach him by phone because he has blocked both our numbers. The accountant of the partnership has indicated that the accountant we would possibly hire can always contact him. We also want to have the documents at our disposal at all times and not have to do this via him. I have also already received advice from another accountant to contact the legal aid office because they also find it a strange course of action.

Lawyer

You don't have to deal with any accountant. It is your brother who is (was) your contractual partner and he will have to give you the accounting. If that is not going to happen, I advise you to send your brother a written summons to hand over the accounts to you, and if he does not do so, then the only option is to go to court.

Lawyer

Your brother will be able to take the position that the documents are with the accountant and it depends on the agreements that have been made between your brother and the accountant for the delivery of the documents. Should this situation arise, I can assist you in this.