Deadline for 2013 tax return is next Monday.

Old, formerly reliable accounting firm recently taken over by “the fifth largest accountancy network in the world”, emailed earlier this week to ask for various documents which had in fact been sent to them in June.

Phone calls to their offices to ask what had happened to the documents in question produced no useful response. (“We’ll call you back” is not a useful response, especially if no phone call is actually received.)

Draft tax return, assembled by accountants, arrived at lunchtime. The amount we allegedly owe the Belgian state is *cough* somewhat higher than anticipated. There is no indication one way or the other as to whether they had actually found the documents which were the subject of the earlier enquiry.

Close comparison with last year’s tax return suggests that a second set of documents, also sent to accountants in June, has gone astray, which would be sufficient to cut the amount allegedly payable by literally more than 50%.

Sent very cross email, and followed up with phone call to original contact point in old, formerly reliable accounting firm, who had not been copied in on any of the previous correspondence except for said cross email from me. I tell him that I don’t think I can work with “the fifth largest accountancy network in the world” in future. He says that as a matter of fact he too is leaving them at the end of this month. I ask him to keep me posted as to his own movements.

Mildly grovelling email has now arrived from someone with the title “Senior Tax Manager”. But I do not think that they will be managing my taxes after Monday.