McDonald Gordon & Co Ltd
 

McDonald Gordon & Co Ltd

ONLINE PRIVACY NOTICE
Introduction
The Data Protection Act 2018 (“DPA 2018”) and the General Data Protection Regulation (“GDPR”) impose certain legal obligations in connection with the processing of personal data.

McDonald Gordon & Co Ltd is a data controller within the meaning of the GDPR and we process personal data. The firm’s contact details are as follows:

Postal address:
McDonald Gordon & Co Ltd
29 York Place
EDINBURGH
EH1 3HP
Telephone: 0131 558 3131
Email: mg@mcdonaldgordon.co.uk

Business Summary
McDonald Gordon & Co Ltd is an independent accountancy firm, specialising in the business area of accountancy and taxation and we may process personal information to enable us to provide the following services:
Accounting services, Auditing, Bookkeeping services, Company secretarial work, New business formations, Payroll, Pensions and insurance, Taxation and tax planning, VAT

The purposes for which we intend to collect personal data
We may collect personal data to enable us to perform the contract and also use it for business, regulatory and legal purposes.

The information we obtain, process, use and disclose will be necessary for:

  • the performance of the contract
  • to comply with our legal and regulatory compliance and crime prevention
  • contacting you with details of other services where you have consented to us doing so
  • other legitimate interests relating to protection against potential claims and disciplinary action against us.
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The purposes for which we intend to process personal data
We intend to process personal data for the following purposes:

  • to enable us to supply professional services to you as our client
  • to fulfil our obligations under relevant laws in force from time to time (e.g. the Money Laundering, Terrorist Financing and Transfer of Funds (Information on the Payer) Regulations 2017 (“MLR 2017”))
  • to comply with professional obligations to which we are subject as a member of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants
  • to use in the investigation and/or defence of potential complaints, disciplinary proceedings and legal proceedings
  • to enable us to invoice you for our services and investigate/address any attendant fee disputes that may have arisen
  • to contact you about the Tax Investigations Insurance service we provide if you have consented to us doing so

The legal bases for our intended processing of personal data
We have a statutory/legal right to hold the data you have provided and our intended processing of personal data has the following legal bases:

  • at the time you instructed us to act, you gave consent to our processing your personal data for the purposes listed under “categories of personal data collected”
  • the processing is necessary for the performance of our contract with you
  • the processing is necessary for compliance with legal obligations to which we are subject (e.g. MLR 2017)
  • the processing is necessary for the purposes of legitimate interests which we pursue: e.g. investigation/defending legal claims.

It is a requirement of our contract with you that you provide us with the personal data that we request. If you do not provide the information that we request, we may not be able to provide professional services to you. If this is the case, we will not be able to commence acting or will need to cease to act.

Categories of personal data collected

  • At the commencement of a contract - Identification details including copy passport/photographic ID, proof of address and possibly financial information such as bank account details.
  • Completion of Personal Tax Return - Personal details including but not limited to name, address, date of birth, NI number, HMRC tax reference number, contact details, marital status, bank account details, earnings records, pension details, sources of income and amounts, expenses, investment details including sources of capital.
  • Accountancy/Bookkeeping Services:
    a) Audits/accounts - Company secretarial details including dividend information and share registry details, bank statements, invoices, supplier/customer details, payroll information which may include name, address, date of birth, NI number, HMRC tax reference number.
    b) VAT Returns - Bank statements, sales and expense invoices and cash expenses.
    c) Personal information relating to client employees and their partners - salary details such as earnings/benefits, name, address, date of birth, NI number, HMRC tax reference number, contact details, marital status, bank account details, pension and other deductions.
  • Payroll Services - Employee details including but not limited to salary details such as earnings/benefits, name, address, date of birth, NI number, HMRC tax reference number, contact details, marital status, bank account details, pension and other deductions.

Source of personal data collected
Any and all personal data is collected directly from you, the individual and with your express agreement HM Revenue & Customs, banks, solicitors, investments managers, lenders and other agents. We may also collect personal data from Companies House which holds publicly accessible data.

Persons/organisations to whom we may give personal data

  • HM Revenue & Customs
  • any third parties with whom you require or permit us to correspond
  • subcontractors
  • an alternate appointed by us in the event of incapacity or death
  • tax insurance providers
  • professional indemnity insurers
  • our professional body (the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants) and/or the Office of Professional Body Anti-Money Laundering Supervisors (OPBAS) in relation to practice assurance and/or the requirements of MLR 2017 (or any similar legislation)
  • Companies House
  • If the law allows or requires us to do so, we may share your personal data with:
  • the police and law enforcement agencies
  • courts and tribunals
  • the Information Commissioner’s Office (“ICO”).

We may need to share your personal data with the third parties identified above in order to comply with our legal obligations, including our legal obligations to you. If you ask us not to share your personal data with such third parties we may need to cease to act.

Transfers of personal data outside the EU
Some of the processing may take place outside of the UK but within the EEA and covered by GDPR. Where processing takes place by one of our trusted data processors, we ensure that our contracts with those 3rd parties contain the appropriate GDPR model clauses and that all our 3rd parties are also compliant with the GDPR, this affords your data the same protection away from our organisation, as it does within it.

Retention of personal data
When acting 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 tax returns have been prepared it is our policy to retain information for 6 years from the end of the tax year to which the information relates.
  • where ad hoc advisory work has been undertaken it is our policy to retain information for 6 years from the date the business relationship ceased.
  • where we have an ongoing client relationship, data which is needed for more than one year’s tax compliance (e.g. capital gains base costs and claims and elections submitted to HMRC) is retained throughout the period of the relationship, but will be deleted 6 years after the end of the business relationship unless you as our client ask us, and we agree, to retain it for a longer period.

Requesting personal data we hold about you (subject access requests)
You have a right to request access to your personal data that we hold. Such requests are known as ‘subject access requests’ (“SARs”).

DPA 2018 requires that we comply with a SAR promptly and in any event within one month of receipt. There are, however, some circumstances in which the law allows us to refuse to provide access to personal data in response to a SAR (e.g. if you have previously made a similar request and there has been little or no change to the data since we complied with the original request).

Putting things right (the right to rectification)
You have a right to obtain the rectification of any inaccurate personal data concerning you that we hold. You also have a right to have any incomplete personal data that we hold about you completed. Should you become aware that any personal data that we hold about you is inaccurate and/or incomplete, please inform us immediately so we can correct and/or complete it.

Deleting your records (the right to erasure)
In certain circumstances you have a right to have the personal data that we ha hrefold about you erased. Further information is available on the ICO website (www.ico.org.uk). If you would like your personal data to be erased, please inform us immediately and we will consider your request. In certain circumstances we have the right to refuse to comply with a request for erasure. If applicable, we will supply you with the reasons for refusing your request.

The right to restrict processing and the right to object
In certain circumstances you have the right to ‘block’ or suppress the processing of personal data or to object to the processing of that information. Further information is available on the ICO website (www.ico.org.uk).

Please inform us immediately if you want us to cease to process your information or you object to processing so that we can consider what action, if any, is appropriate.

Obtaining and reusing personal data (the right to data portability)
In certain circumstances you have the right to be provided with the personal data that we hold about you in a machine-readable format, e.g. so that the data can easily be provided to a new professional adviser. Further information is available on the ICO website (www.ico.org.uk).

The right to data portability only applies:

  • to personal data an individual has provided to a controller
  • where the processing is based on the individual’s consent or for the performance of a contract
  • when processing is carried out by automated means
We will respond to any data portability requests made to us without undue delay and within one month. We may extend the period by a further two months where the request is complex or a number of requests are received but we will inform you within one month of the receipt of the request and explain why the extension is necessary.

Withdrawal of consent
Where you have consented to our processing of your personal data, you have the right to withdraw that consent at any time. Please inform us immediately if you wish to withdraw your consent.

Please note:

  • the withdrawal of consent does not affect the lawfulness of earlier processing
  • if you withdraw your consent, we may not be able to continue to provide services to you
  • even if you withdraw your consent, it may remain lawful for us to process your data on another legal basis (e.g. because we have a legal obligation to continue to process your data).

Automated decision-making
We do not use or intend to use automated decision-making in relation to your personal data and we do not profile you using your data. Any actions taken by us or our systems are as a direct result of explicit requests or consents you have chosen.

In certain circumstances you have the right to ‘block’ or suppress the processing of personal data or to object to the processing of that information. Further information is available on the ICO website (www.ico.org.uk).

Please inform us immediately if you want us to cease to process your information or you object to processing so that we can consider what action, if any, is appropriate.

Cookie Policy
Cookies are text files placed on your computer to make websites work, or work more efficiently as well as, in some situations, collect standard internet log information and visitor behaviour information. This information is used to track visitor use of websites and to compile statistical reports on website activity. For further information visit https://ico.org.uk/for-organisations/guide-to-pecr/cookies-and-similar-technologies/

Any cookies used by McDonald Gordon & Co Ltd are purely to improve the efficiency of the website. McDonald Gordon & Co Ltd does not use cookies to track visitor use of the website. Please be aware that clicking on links within the McDonald Gordon & Co Ltd website may transfer the user to external websites. McDonald Gordon & Co Ltd has no control over the use of cookies on external websites and the user should refer to that website’s cookie policy.

Complaints
If you have requested details of the information we hold about you and you are not happy with our response, or you think we have not complied with the GDPR or DPA 2018 in some other way, you can complain to us.

Please send any complaints to McDonald Gordon & Co Ltd, 29 York Place, EDINBURGH EH1 3HP.

If you are not happy with our response, you have a right to lodge a complaint with the ICO (www.ico.org.uk).