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catonsville · Jan 1, 2012, 03:40 PM

Taxes were done Professionally. The preparer did a bad job and cost me a considerable penalty and fine. Blamed me and required considerable additional cost. Truth be known, the blame belongs on the preparer. What should I do?

JudyKayTee · Jan 1, 2012, 03:54 PM

I have the same problem - you have no choice but to sue.

Fr_Chuck · Jan 1, 2012, 03:56 PM

Hire a better professional next time. Does the preparer have errors and omission insurance to cover their actions?

The facts are "what is the truth" why did they blame you, was there information you withheld ? Did you not provide your books as needed ? Give them false info, or what.

I know I have had one of the large store front preparers do my a few times over the years and almost always they did errors in filing. So tell us what the errors were, Why is it the preparers fault and why are they trying to blame you?

JudyKayTee · Jan 1, 2012, 04:00 PM

I paid a bunch and my CPA absolutely made every mistake in the book - including "forgetting" to electronically file my return. What you pay is not connected to how well they perform.

My "guy" was surprised. And that was about all.

Yes, he carries insurance but, no, he isn't going to submit the claim SO I have no choice but to sue.

catonsville · Jan 1, 2012, 04:07 PM

FR Chuck, since this goes out on the internet, I don't want to go into detail here. If you have an email addy, I will discuss it further if that is okay with you. If not that is okay also Thanks for your response. Wish this program had a edit feature and a PM feature.

ScottGem · Jan 1, 2012, 05:13 PM

Originally Posted by catonsville

FR Chuck, since this goes out on the internet, I don't want to go into detail here. If you have an email addy, I will discuss it further if that is okay with you. If not that is okay also Thanks for your response. Wish this program had a edit feature and a PM feature.

First, this site prohibits taking questions offline. Any follow-up should be made to the thread. And yes, while this is the Internet, your screen name provides anonymity.

You can answer Chuck's questions in general terms without compromising your privacy. For example, you could say they blamed you because you didn't give them complete info.

But the bottomline here, is unless you have a contract with the preparer to cover you in case of errors on their part, you are stuck. Some preparers will back their work by indemnifying you against any penalties and interest, but not the actual taxes owed.

And this site does have both an Edit feature and a PM feature, but both are blocked from brand new members.

JudyKayTee · Jan 2, 2012, 08:59 AM

Originally Posted by catonsville

Taxes were done Professionally. The preparer did a bad job and cost me a considerable penalty and fine. Blamed me and required considerable additional cost. Truth be known, the blame belongs on the preparer. What should I do?

The LAW states that errors are the responsibility of the taxpayer. IRS says: "... you are the one who is ultimately responsible ..."

Of course, you can sue and attempt to collect from the person who prepared the tax return.

Fr_Chuck · Jan 2, 2012, 10:01 AM

Yes, Judy, that is what they did to me, they filed my Federal but after doing my state, never filed my state for me, I found out months latter after it was late and I was being questioned by the state for this and had to pay all the extra charges

catonsville · Jan 2, 2012, 12:35 PM

My tax problem went back 2 years. So the Penalty was considerable. The preparer stated that I had not provided a page of data but, the so called "missing page" contained a very large number of sales of stock and the page he submitted only had 2 sales on it but the price of the sales was considerably higher which was noted right next to the total value of the sales. Light Bulb should have gone off in their head if indeed the page was missing. A total of 20k+ difference. I feel, I know why they did not complete the Tally as it would have taken way too much time to compute the Tally since it was done in small increments like 10K shares in 400-800 share portions. Also the price was very cheap as a "newbie come-on". We went with a preparer to preclude any errors happening. Something strange happened with my latest filing which has me scratching my head. So 2012 there will be a change TurboTax or try to find a new guy.

ScottGem · Jan 2, 2012, 12:58 PM

Use TurboTax AND take it to a professional preparer. See how different they are. Then decide which way to go for 2013.