hesperus
Full time employment: Posting here.
So, if you handed all your financial docs to three separate tax people, do you think you' get three different taxes due amounts?
I just switched over to a new tax accountant this year, and some things have occurred with how he has handled the returns, to a point where I'm questioning if he has really gotten us the lowest return possible. Without going into too much detail, the taxes were ready to file by april 13, but he was going to file an extension to go through the returns to see if anything else could be reviewed to our benefit. So, I said OK, and then I didn't hear from him for two weeks. I was expecting to get a call from him to come in and go over our returns and discuss them. Instead, I get a call from his receptionist telling me to come and pick them up. I told her I would like to talk to him, and she says he's in a meeting. So DW and I go in there to pick them up, get home and open them up to discover that they are now three times the amount due then when he was ready to file them on april 13! Naturally, we have a LOT of questions, so we go back in there and he's gone for a long weekend. I request to talk to the principal of the firm, and then lay out the email I received from my acountant that clearly states that they are ready to file at the much lower amount than what is now due. He's also perplexed, and says he'll look at them on monday.
Our investments are somewhat complex, with a large individual brokerage account (2.5M), two trusts (1M) and an IRA (.6M). It's a mix of stocks, MF's, and MLP's. We had one of our MLP's turn over to a stock position (Kinder Morgan) last year, so that kicked in a big capital gains hit. Through this all, our accountant sounded like he had it under control, and I was ready to pay the amount he initially laid out on april 13. So when I get the new taxes due, at three times the amount when we last spoke, without so much of a call to let me know, I'm pretty steamed. At best it's unprofessional to lay this at my feet without an explanation, at worst, it might be incompetence. I have this suspicion that they'll talk next week and tell me the larger amount is what I owe, and I should bite the bullet. However, with how this has unfolded I have lost faith in this group, and am seriously considering taking them to another accountant to go over to really be sure. I have an extension until august or so, so there's time, but it's going to cost $$ to have someone else go over the returns again. Bottom line, I don't like the way this all came down and and I will be making a change AGAIN next year to a new tax accountant.
But to my original question - how many different results can different accountants end up with if you supply them with the same tax documents? Is it worth having someone go over the same returns again?
I just switched over to a new tax accountant this year, and some things have occurred with how he has handled the returns, to a point where I'm questioning if he has really gotten us the lowest return possible. Without going into too much detail, the taxes were ready to file by april 13, but he was going to file an extension to go through the returns to see if anything else could be reviewed to our benefit. So, I said OK, and then I didn't hear from him for two weeks. I was expecting to get a call from him to come in and go over our returns and discuss them. Instead, I get a call from his receptionist telling me to come and pick them up. I told her I would like to talk to him, and she says he's in a meeting. So DW and I go in there to pick them up, get home and open them up to discover that they are now three times the amount due then when he was ready to file them on april 13! Naturally, we have a LOT of questions, so we go back in there and he's gone for a long weekend. I request to talk to the principal of the firm, and then lay out the email I received from my acountant that clearly states that they are ready to file at the much lower amount than what is now due. He's also perplexed, and says he'll look at them on monday.
Our investments are somewhat complex, with a large individual brokerage account (2.5M), two trusts (1M) and an IRA (.6M). It's a mix of stocks, MF's, and MLP's. We had one of our MLP's turn over to a stock position (Kinder Morgan) last year, so that kicked in a big capital gains hit. Through this all, our accountant sounded like he had it under control, and I was ready to pay the amount he initially laid out on april 13. So when I get the new taxes due, at three times the amount when we last spoke, without so much of a call to let me know, I'm pretty steamed. At best it's unprofessional to lay this at my feet without an explanation, at worst, it might be incompetence. I have this suspicion that they'll talk next week and tell me the larger amount is what I owe, and I should bite the bullet. However, with how this has unfolded I have lost faith in this group, and am seriously considering taking them to another accountant to go over to really be sure. I have an extension until august or so, so there's time, but it's going to cost $$ to have someone else go over the returns again. Bottom line, I don't like the way this all came down and and I will be making a change AGAIN next year to a new tax accountant.
But to my original question - how many different results can different accountants end up with if you supply them with the same tax documents? Is it worth having someone go over the same returns again?
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