Refund for errors?
March 1, 2016 8:12 AM Subscribe
Given a bunch of new and confusing factors in 2015 (marriage, home buying, self-employment), we hired a tax preparer this year. She made a number of errors, ranging from typos of spelling etc to missing deductions resulting in a >$1000 difference in what we owe. My wife caught these errors right away and the preparer made the changes. (We will give this a full review before submitting, it’s possible there are more errors we haven’t found yet.)
This person is a “reputable” preparer, MBA, worked at a big accounting firm before she went on her own etc, but clearly did this at the last minute for our deadline (it was all uploaded to her site at 3:30 in the morning the night before we needed it.) She is charging several hundred dollars for her services. Should we ask for a discount? If so, what would be reasonable and can you suggest a script for how to ask for this?
This person is a “reputable” preparer, MBA, worked at a big accounting firm before she went on her own etc, but clearly did this at the last minute for our deadline (it was all uploaded to her site at 3:30 in the morning the night before we needed it.) She is charging several hundred dollars for her services. Should we ask for a discount? If so, what would be reasonable and can you suggest a script for how to ask for this?
I would ask for a full refund. It sounds like her errors exceed what you paid for her work. I would be very matter of fact about it. Say something like:
"We did a quick skim of the taxes when we received them and found a number of simple errors, for example [give an example that cost you money, such a missed deduction that should have been easy to NOT miss, not a spelling error]. We feel it is necessary to fully and closely review the forms and recalculate the taxes ourselves before submitting them. Under these circumstances, we would like you to refund our fee."
posted by OrangeDisk at 8:33 AM on March 1, 2016 [11 favorites]
"We did a quick skim of the taxes when we received them and found a number of simple errors, for example [give an example that cost you money, such a missed deduction that should have been easy to NOT miss, not a spelling error]. We feel it is necessary to fully and closely review the forms and recalculate the taxes ourselves before submitting them. Under these circumstances, we would like you to refund our fee."
posted by OrangeDisk at 8:33 AM on March 1, 2016 [11 favorites]
"We did a quick skim of the taxes when we received them and found a number of simple errors, for example [give an example that cost you money, such a missed deduction that should have been easy to NOT miss, not a spelling error]. We feel it is necessary to fully and closely review the forms and recalculate the taxes ourselves before submitting them. Under these circumstances, we would like you to refund our fee."
If that doesn't work just take her to small claims. It's cheap to file and the judge will sort her out.
posted by Talez at 8:35 AM on March 1, 2016 [1 favorite]
If that doesn't work just take her to small claims. It's cheap to file and the judge will sort her out.
posted by Talez at 8:35 AM on March 1, 2016 [1 favorite]
The reason to pay a tax preparer is so you don't have to find this stuff yourself. You should ask for a complete refund.
posted by metasarah at 8:50 AM on March 1, 2016 [7 favorites]
posted by metasarah at 8:50 AM on March 1, 2016 [7 favorites]
Our one and only attempt at using an accountant to do our taxes was exactly the same: simple errors which we caught. He immediately re-filed and there wasn't a penalty, but…feh. And he came really highly recommended by actual, competent people! Never again.
Also, scrittore's plan is a good one.
posted by wenestvedt at 9:12 AM on March 1, 2016
Also, scrittore's plan is a good one.
posted by wenestvedt at 9:12 AM on March 1, 2016
I have prepared taxes. A full refund is fair. We gave refunds for lesser problems.
posted by michaelh at 9:35 AM on March 1, 2016 [5 favorites]
posted by michaelh at 9:35 AM on March 1, 2016 [5 favorites]
If she is a CPA she should not make these types of errors.
FWIW, our CPA walks through our return with us before we leave the office. In part, he does that to show us anywhere that we are missing documents. He also does it so that we can ask questions about how things were included in our return. Surprisingly, it doesn't take as long as you might think and it's an important quality control step. Having the accountant upload the return with no opportunity for explanation or questions would be unacceptable to me.
You are due a refund for the cost of her services.
posted by 26.2 at 10:19 AM on March 1, 2016 [2 favorites]
FWIW, our CPA walks through our return with us before we leave the office. In part, he does that to show us anywhere that we are missing documents. He also does it so that we can ask questions about how things were included in our return. Surprisingly, it doesn't take as long as you might think and it's an important quality control step. Having the accountant upload the return with no opportunity for explanation or questions would be unacceptable to me.
You are due a refund for the cost of her services.
posted by 26.2 at 10:19 AM on March 1, 2016 [2 favorites]
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posted by latkes at 8:33 AM on March 1, 2016