anybody ever have a incompetent tax preparer?

[GMN]

We had a situation here with this lady we have taken our taxes to for years, well this year she made a mistake on hte fderal return, and the IRS decreased our refund by almost half. We are kind of worried now, and don't know if we should have another preparer look over this years taxes or previous ones to see if there is anything to worry about, or just let it go, and hope she did the previous ones right. We are definetely going elsewhere next year, just wondering if anyone ever had this situation before?

GMN

 

[TREY-L]

Yes, and after I came to this realization I never prepared another one.

 

[dcara]

A tax accountant once told me that you can refile a tax return up to 3 years later (I think he said) for a refund if you discovered a mistake in a previous return. I'm not sure if there is a time limit if the mistake was against you. Seems like I've heard the IRS can only go back 7 years. Maybe someone else knows for sure.

 

[Jogeephus]

Sorry to hear that but am relieved I'm in such good company. I had an incompetant imbicile prepare mine once. Came highly recommended via the good ol boys club. He used the wrong forms on my return and the IRS threatened to do all sorts of nice things to me, my bank accounts as well as my home. Turns out this fella networked well but he was too busy trying to do mass volumes of returns rather than worrying about the little things like accuracy. After hiring a new accountant, it took us over a year to correct the mess he created. Once corrected, I received a refund that I could have paid off the note on the house they were threatening to confiscate just a few months earlier. Its hard enough understanding tax law yourself, its even harder when your tax preparer doesn't either. Be thankful your preparer hasn't left you with liens on your assets. ( :idea: Federal Sales Tax :idea: )

 

[fit2btied]

Yes, and after I came to this realization I never prepared another one.

Got a letter from the IRS Tuesday stating that I had made a mistake on our taxes last year and that I owed them just over $1000. I used TurboTax but had apparently entered a number in the wrong place. I don't always learn real quick, so will probably keep doing it myself. Paid some UR a Blockhead guy to do them for us some 30 years ago, what a waste! He did absolutely nothing to help us. Took the receipts we had, asked no questions, offered no suggestions, charged us a couple hundred dollars, and filed them over two months after they were done!

 

[I luv herfrds]

Yes, myself.
Was told by my math teacher to remember four little words,"H&R Block."
We got a good tax accountant. He suggests different ways of doing this, how to get the most for our buck and he gets them in fast.

 

[Darhawk]

First advice...........have another preparer look over your return and refile. I've been audited three times and in each instance the folks at IRS were competent and not bad to work with. In each instance the problem was missing info (1099s) on their part, that I had in file and provided to them. The worst was a $10,000 mistake that they said I owed, but end in the end they owed me $6,500. You'll never get a thank you or apology from them, but the check was nice.

Now to answer your question. Yes, had a bad one. When I divorced my wife, during the negotiation, I accepted her lawyer's recommendation of tax preparer. It was a mistake, but has since been corrected. My learned lesson was to seek out a preparer that is well experienced in your profession. I now use folks that only do ranchers/farmers and no one else. I pay for this expertise, but in the long run the benefits (tax breaks) are mine. As you would not go to a hair dresser to repair your plumbing, so not go to a jack-of-all-trades tax preparer to do a ranch/farm return.

 

[iowahawkeyes]

Absolutely right Dar. I can't imagine trying to do taxes ourselves. Our preparer is very familiar with farming and does an outstanding job. He is worth the money and is earning every penny and will the next couple years with the way grain markets are going. :shock:

 

[Frankie]

We had a situation here with this lady we have taken our taxes to for years, well this year she made a mistake on hte fderal return, and the IRS decreased our refund by almost half. We are kind of worried now, and don't know if we should have another preparer look over this years taxes or previous ones to see if there is anything to worry about, or just let it go, and hope she did the previous ones right. We are definetely going elsewhere next year, just wondering if anyone ever had this situation before?

GMN

I'm not sure I'd call her "incompetent", but we did have one mess us up one year. When we moved back home, we used the office that my mother had used for years. But the man running it had retired and sold the business to a woman. She did our taxes for a couple of years; one year her calculator was broken. She'd rented one and, I guess because she wasn't familiar with it, she made a simple math mistake on our taxes. It cost us some money. Our taxes were pretty complicated back then, so we found a CPA and have been using him ever since. He's expensive and our financial situation isn't as complicated, so we could probably get by cheaper, but we'll probably stay with him.

 

[kerley]

I remember a guy named Al Capone. The FBI could not get him but the IRS did. An incompetent tax preparer can cost you money and possibly some time.

 

[Howdyjabo]

Sure have- its really hard to find a good accountant let alone a good one with a farming background.
They HAVE to have a farming background- or they just can't understand what you are doing.

Its a great way to pick your next accountant by picking out two or three and have them redo a few years. If you hire them in the off season they don't charge too much and you get to see them in action and compare them apples to apples.
As crazy as the tax code is they WILL come up with different figures.
I always tell mine "be creative" but don't "creatively lie".

I don't worry about mistakes with the Federal or State returns-- its the county filing that gets scary around here. And they have learned well- make it very confusing- leading to mistakes they can cash in on latter.
they need money right now so they are going back 7 yrs(ie in 07 they audited 00 returns)and finding whatever little mistake they can- charging you the fine and interest . Going back 7 yrs, little innocent mistakes are netting them BIG money.
Then they go back another 7 yrs next year and do it again-- a never ending fountain of "found" money. Much more profitable than auditing current returns.

 

[Running Arrow Bill]

No...we haven't.

Some advice:

Go with a qualified, farm & ranch knowledgeale CPA "Firm", not a lone CPA. Reason: If the lone CPA skips town, dies, etc., then you have very little backup or recourse. With a CPA "Firm" there are several CPA's on board who can assume the duties if something happens to the first one.

Second, IMO I'd avoid a "tax preparer", "generic tax service," "bookkeeper", and similar people like the black plague. While "some" might be knowledgeable enough, most are just assembly line tax preparers for the "usual" types of returns.

Third, unless YOU are knowledgeable and competent in understanding and interpreting IRS tax laws, rules, and regulations, using a D-I-Y off the shelf "tax software" is an accident waiting to happen when it comes to complicated business tax returns (aka farm & ranch operations).

In the long run..."it costs no more to go first class"! ...perhaps even less...

 

[GMN]

No...we haven't.

Some advice:

Go with a qualified, farm & ranch knowledgeale CPA "Firm", not a lone CPA. Reason: If the lone CPA skips town, dies, etc., then you have very little backup or recourse. With a CPA "Firm" there are several CPA's on board who can assume the duties if something happens to the first one.

Second, IMO I'd avoid a "tax preparer", "generic tax service," "bookkeeper", and similar people like the black plague. While "some" might be knowledgeable enough, most are just assembly line tax preparers for the "usual" types of returns.

Third, unless YOU are knowledgeable and competent in understanding and interpreting IRS tax laws, rules, and regulations, using a D-I-Y off the shelf "tax software" is an accident waiting to happen when it comes to complicated business tax returns (aka farm & ranch operations).

In the long run..."it costs no more to go first class"! ...perhaps even less...

This is very good advice. i should ask one of my dairy neighbors who he uses. I like the idea of going to a firm, like you said, where if something happened to one, another could carry it on.

This has been one of the worst tax seasons for us, I was wary about her, from things that people have told me, but I thought she always did us right, but now I have a totally different opinion of her, as in what she thinks is right probably isn't what I would view as being right. I had to go out there yesterday and get copies of the state forms, she inadvertely forget to make copies of them, that made trip #6 there, and her whole attitude was just indifferent. Makes me wonder how I ever could have missed the signs that were staring me straight in the face. I guess I learned something here, and best move on from it.

If we had our last couple years of taxes refiled, how would that work? Do you think that would be a red flag to the IRS? What if it turned out be be to our disadvantage? It scares me.

GMN

 

[KenB]

No...we haven't.

Some advice:

Go with a qualified, farm & ranch knowledgeale CPA "Firm", not a lone CPA. Reason: If the lone CPA skips town, dies, etc., then you have very little backup or recourse. With a CPA "Firm" there are several CPA's on board who can assume the duties if something happens to the first one.

Second, IMO I'd avoid a "tax preparer", "generic tax service," "bookkeeper", and similar people like the black plague. While "some" might be knowledgeable enough, most are just assembly line tax preparers for the "usual" types of returns.

Third, unless YOU are knowledgeable and competent in understanding and interpreting IRS tax laws, rules, and regulations, using a D-I-Y off the shelf "tax software" is an accident waiting to happen when it comes to complicated business tax returns (aka farm & ranch operations).

In the long run..."it costs no more to go first class"! ...perhaps even less...

This is very good advice. i should ask one of my dairy neighbors who he uses. I like the idea of going to a firm, like you said, where if something happened to one, another could carry it on.

This has been one of the worst tax seasons for us, I was wary about her, from things that people have told me, but I thought she always did us right, but now I have a totally different opinion of her, as in what she thinks is right probably isn't what I would view as being right. I had to go out there yesterday and get copies of the state forms, she inadvertely forget to make copies of them, that made trip #6 there, and her whole attitude was just indifferent. Makes me wonder how I ever could have missed the signs that were staring me straight in the face. I guess I learned something here, and best move on from it.

If we had our last couple years of taxes refiled, how would that work? Do you think that would be a red flag to the IRS? What if it turned out be be to our disadvantage? It scares me.

You would need to have your CPA fill them out, and check them over. There would be no need to refile them unless there was a major problem. Of course the CPA will charge you for filling them out.
GMN

 

[Horticattleman]

We were using a 'Business Consultant' for all our business services. Bill paying, accounting, tax returns, etc. Well this idiot did something wrong in the "tax planning" department and informed me that I had to come up wit $25,00 in fed tax and $15,000 in state tax ate the end of the year. needless to say I was cracked. Drained every account I had and I thought we had made money that year. We switched and thank God for the Guy we use now and his office. he is sharp as a tack and was able to recoup the majority of that money. I know Katrina was devastating for so many people, but it sure helped me.

 

[rockridgecattle]

We changed from a real good accountant to a firm which said they offered more bang for the buck. Offered more services. We had to pay up front depending and the fee was depending on income generated. We were not happy with them and went back to the local accounting office here. He said the "company" cost us about $ 40 000 each in taxes. This loss would have been felt for several years.

 

[spoon]

We had a problem back when I was self employed. After a few years of paying what seemed to us as way too much in taxes we decided to change CPAs. Wow what a difference. New CPA went back and redid our taxes and we refiled for I believe 3 years back and got back quite a bit of money.