Do you know if you received good tax preparation service or poor tax preparation service? Most of the time you do not know. You trust the person preparing the tax return. Unfortunately, receiving poor tax preparation service is more common than you think.

We pride ourselves on preparing quality tax returns. Our firm has a unique view on tax preparation services due to our experience with IRS Tax Audits. We know the problem areas. Your tax return will report all deductions allowed. We take positions on your tax return that meet the “more likely than not” IRS standard.

These are actual tax preparation service cases. We omitted names and locations to protect the confidentiality of our clients.

We have met with clients who have experienced poor service from other CPAs.  Some cases the CPAs declared fraudulent deductions on the clients’  return, resulting in IRS tax audits and high penalties. In some other cases, the CPAs made significant errors on the clients’  return, which resulted in high tax balances. Unfortunately some of CPAs took advantage of clients by charging high fees to clients who were owed large returns.

Finding a trusted CPA can be hard. If you do not understand how your return was prepared, how do you know if it prepared correctly? How do you know you received a quality tax preparation service? We recommend the following before signing your tax return:

1. Review  the numbers reported on the tax return.
2. Ask  where the numbers came from
3. Ask how the numbers match your tax records

Don't blindly sign your tax return. Ask questions about before you sign your return. You are fully responsible for everything reported on the tax return, not your accountant or CPA.