Mayes Business Partnership Ltd
Privacy Notice
 
Introduction
 
The Data Protection Act 2018 (DPA 2018) and the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) requires organisations that process personal data to meet certain legal obligations. 
 
Mayes Business Partnership Ltd are a data controller within the meaning of the Act and we process personal data.
 
In this privacy notice we aim to set out our arrangements for processing your data as clearly as possible. 
 
Information we obtain.
 
When becoming a client of Mayes, we enter into a contract with you and will be processing your data on that basis.
 
To fulfil this contact we collect information and:-
 
Engage you as a client under restrictions placed on us by UK Laws eg under the requirements of Money Laundering, Terrorist Financing and Transfer of Funds (Information on the Payer) Regulations 2017 (MLR 2017)
 
Prepare accounts and tax returns.
 
Prepare an audit (where applicable)
 
Provide payroll services.
 
Provide tax advice.
 
If information is not provided to us that we request we will be unable to provide any of the services required under this contract and will not be able to commence acting on your behalf.
 
How we collect your information 
 
Information is collect about your from the following sources:-

• You, your spouse/partner
• HM Revenue & Customs
• Electronic Id verification
• Your employer or company
• Other third parties authorised by you for example, banks, investment managers.

 

How is information collected and transferred?
 
We recognise how important the privacy of your information is and we have agreed with you that we will use stringent security measures when dealing with your data within our organisation and with third parties.
 
 
How your information is used
 
The information we hold about you may be used in the following ways:-
 

• to provide services under our engagement contract
• to inform you about other services we provide which may be of interest to you if you have given permission to us doing so
• To meet all legal and regulatory requirements
• For legitimate interests. We will retain all records based on our retention policy so that we can defend ourselves against potential legal claims or disciplinary action which can be brought within statutory time limits.

We may also use information from other people or organisations when carrying out these activities.
 
Your data will be processed in the UK only.
 
Information we may provide to others
 
All your information you have provided to us will only be processed by the employees and the Directors of this practice, apart from the following circumstances, and to enable us to undertake our engagement with you:
 

• HM Revenue & Customs
• third parties you require us to correspond with (i.e. banks, pension providers (including auto-enrolment) and investment brokers
• tax insurance providers
• professional indemnity insurers
• Our professional body (the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants) or the Anti Money Laundering organisations.

 
We are required to give information to these other parties in order to fulfil our contractual obligations to you and therefore it is not possible to opt out of the provision of information to these parties. If you ask us not to provide information we may need to cease to act.
 
If required by law during the period of our engagement or after we have ceased to act we may give information about you to:
 

• the police and law enforcement agencies
• courts and tribunals
• the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO).

 
 
In addition, after we have ceased to act we may give information about you to:
 

• your new adviser or any third party you give us permission to provide information to
• our professional indemnity insurers or any legal adviser where we need to defend ourselves against a claim
• our professional disciplinary body where a complaint has been made against us in order that we may defend ourselves against a claim

 
Retaining your information
 
When we act as a data controller and in accordance with recognised good practice within the tax and accountancy sector we will retain all of our records relating to you as follows:
 

• where we have prepared tax returns it is our policy to retain information for six years from the end of the tax year the information relates to
• where we have an ongoing relationship any permanent information (the data supplied by you and others that is required for more than one year’s tax compliance) including, capital gains base costs and claims and elections submitted to HMRC are retained throughout the period of the relationship but will be deleted six years after the end of the business relationship unless we are asked to retain it for a longer term.
• where ad hoc work has been undertaken it is our policy to retain information for six years from the date the business relationship ceased.

 
You as a client will be responsible for retaining information that Mayes send to you (including details of capital gains base costs and claims and elections submitted) and this will be supplied in the form agreed between both parties.
 
Documents and records relevant to your business affairs should be kept for a period of six years from the end of the accounting period.
 
Requesting information we hold about you (Subject Access Requests)
 
Requests to see the information that the firm holds about you are known as ‘subject access requests’ (SAR).
 
We set out the details on SARs below.
 
Requests in writing
 
All requests should be made in writing marked for the attention of the Directors at Mayes Business Partnership Ltd.
 
In order that we may provide the information you request you should include the following details:-
 

• your date of birth
• any previous names you may have used
• your previous addresses in the past five years
• any personal reference number(s) that we may have given you, for example your national insurance number, your personal tax reference number or your VAT registration number
• the information you require from our firm

DPA 2018 requires us to comply with a request for information promptly and in any event within one month of receipt.
 
We will endeavour to provide a response within this timescale. No charge will be made for  dealing with a SAR.
 
Asking a third party to make a subject access request on your behalf
 
You can ask a third party to request information on your behalf.  For example, your solicitors a relative or friend.
 
You must give us your authority to do this. This can be in the form of a letter signed by you stating that you authorise the person concerned to write to us for information about you, and/or receive our reply.
 
When information will not be released
 
We are allowed by law to refuse your request for information in certain circumstances. 
 
For example, if a similar request has been made previously and there has been little or no change to the data since we provided information with the original request.
 
The law also allows us to withhold information where, for example, release would be likely to:
 

• prejudice the prevention or detection of crime
• prejudice the arrest or prosecution of offenders
• prejudice the assessment or collection of any tax or duty
• reveal the identity of another person, or information about them.

 
 
Putting things right (the right to rectification)
 
If any information you have previously supplied to us is incorrect please contact us immediately in order that we can update and amend any information we hold.
 
Complaints
 
If you are not happy with our response where you have requested details of information we hold about you or feel we have not complied with the DPA 2018 principles in some other way, you can complain to us.
 
If after contacting us with your complaint and are still not happy with our response, then you can ask the ICO to assess whether we have contravened DPA 2018.
 
The ICO’s address:           
Information Commissioner’s Office
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire
SK9 5AF
 
Helpline number: 0303 123 1113
ICO website: https://www.ico.org.uk
 
You can also complain to the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) (www.accaglobal.com/uk/)