Terms and conditions

1. Definitions

• Adviser: Valorem Belastingadvies.
• Client: the party instructing the adviser to perform work.
• Engagement: the agreement under which the adviser performs work for the client.

2. Scope

These terms apply to all quotations, engagements and agreements between the adviser and the client, and to all work arising from them.

The client's own terms do not apply unless the adviser has accepted them expressly and in writing.

3. Formation of the engagement

The engagement comes into being when the client accepts the engagement note, or when the adviser starts work with the client's agreement.

The adviser may refuse or end an engagement if performing it would conflict with law or regulation, or if the client due diligence gives cause to do so.

4. Performance

The adviser performs the engagement to the best of their ability and with the care that may be expected of a reasonably competent tax adviser. The engagement is an obligation of effort; no particular tax outcome is guaranteed.

The adviser decides how and by whom the engagement is carried out and may engage third parties. The liability provisions also operate for the benefit of those third parties.

Advice is based on the law in force at the time it is given and on the facts supplied by the client. The adviser is not obliged to update earlier advice unless agreed.

5. What the client supplies

The client supplies all data and documents needed for the engagement on time, correctly and in full, including where the adviser has not expressly asked for them.

The adviser may rely on the accuracy and completeness of what the client supplies and is not obliged to verify it, unless verification is expressly part of the engagement.

Additional work arising from incorrect, incomplete or late information is at the client's expense.

6. Deadlines

Stated periods are indicative unless expressly agreed otherwise.

Statutory filing deadlines can only be met if the client supplies the necessary documents in time. Where the client supplies them late, the consequences, including penalties and tax interest, are at the client's expense.

7. Fees and payment

All amounts are exclusive of VAT unless stated otherwise.

Monthly packages are invoiced monthly in advance. Other work is invoiced at the agreed fixed price or the agreed hourly rate.

Payment is due within fourteen days of the invoice date. Where payment is late, the client owes statutory commercial interest and extrajudicial collection costs.

The adviser may suspend work while an invoice remains unpaid after due date, having notified the client. The adviser is not liable for loss arising from that suspension.

The adviser may adjust fees annually. A change is announced at least one month in advance.

8. Duration and termination of a monthly package

A monthly package is entered into for a minimum period of three months. After that it continues for an indefinite period and may be terminated by either party on one month's notice, with effect from the end of a calendar month.

On termination during a financial year, work performed up to that point is settled. Work not yet performed at the moment of termination, such as an annual return not yet filed, is not covered by the monthly amounts already paid unless agreed otherwise.

Either party may end the engagement with immediate effect if the other is declared bankrupt or is granted suspension of payments.

9. Liability

The adviser is liable only for loss that is the direct result of an attributable failure in performing the engagement.

Liability is limited to the amount paid out by the professional indemnity insurer in the case concerned, increased by the deductible. Where the insurer does not pay out, liability is limited to the amount charged for the engagement concerned in the twelve months before the event causing the loss.

The adviser is not liable for consequential loss, lost profit or missed savings, nor for loss resulting from incorrect or incomplete information from the client.

Any claim lapses twelve months after the client discovered the loss or could reasonably have discovered it.

These limitations do not apply in the event of intent or deliberate recklessness on the part of the adviser.

10. Confidentiality

The adviser keeps confidential everything that comes to their knowledge in the course of the engagement, unless a statutory duty of disclosure applies or the client consents.

The adviser may use the engagement in anonymised form for internal purposes such as quality control.

11. Anti-money laundering

Under the Dutch anti-money laundering act (Wwft) the adviser is required to carry out client due diligence and to report unusual transactions to the designated authority. The adviser may not inform the client of such a report.

The client provides the cooperation needed for this due diligence.

12. The file

Documents supplied by the client and the deliverables of the engagement are provided to the client in usable form on request.

Working papers and internal notes remain the property of the adviser.

The adviser keeps the file for the statutory retention period and may destroy it thereafter.

13. Complaints

The client reports complaints about performance or about an invoice to the adviser in writing within thirty days, describing the complaint.

The adviser responds within four weeks and seeks a solution in consultation.

14. Governing law

Dutch law applies to all engagements.

Disputes are submitted to the competent court in the district where the adviser is established, unless the law mandatorily designates another court.