Tax Preparer Errors

Tax return preparation has become big business in the United States. From the large tax preparer franchises, to the local independent tax preparation companies, tens of millions of State and Federal tax returns are prepared by “tax preparers” each year.  You would think that most tax preparers have procedures, policies, and quality controls in place to prevent tax preparer errors. This is not always the case as tax preparer errors happen more often than you might expect.

When a tax preparer makes an error on your tax return the consequences can be damaging. Tax preparer error and mistakes can increase your tax liability such as penalties and interest, trigger an IRS Audit, and provide cause for the IRS to conduct a criminal investigation, or in the worst cases hold you out to criminal charges for IRS tax crimes.  If your tax preparer has made an error, an oversight, or mistake in preparing your tax return, you may have a cause of action against your tax preparer, the tax preparation company, your accountant, or accounting firm for malpractice.

Many tax preparer errors and tax return preparation malpractice claims arise from inadequate training of preparers, the failure to file a client's tax return timely, incorrectly completing tax forms, using the wrong tax forms, failing to identify the appropriate deductions or filing status, the failure to communicate with clients and keep them informed, as well as making promises as to the outcome of a filing. Additionally, if a tax preparer, tax preparation company, CPA – accountant, or accounting firm fails to follow the Internal Revenue Service guidelines they may be guilty of malpractice and subject to IRS penalties which can be both civil and criminal. A tax preparer that is referred to the IRS's Office of Professional Responsibility, can be subject to suspension, disbarment, or censure, and if the preparer has violated IRS Circular No. 230, then the IRS can potentially impose a penalty in an amount up to the gross income derived or to be derived from the conduct giving rise to the penalty.

Most tax preparer mistakes end up costing consumers much more than the actual cost charged to prepare the tax return. When you engage the services of a tax preparer, they should have the required knowledge, experiences, and training to perform the task of tax return preparation correctly. Income taxes and tax compliance are very serious matters to be entrusted with.  When you go to get your taxes prepared by a tax preparation company, CPA, Accountant, Enrolled Agent, or professional preparer, you rely on the preparer’s knowledge, skill, training, and experience in tax preparation to avoid making errors or mistakes on your tax return.

If a tax preparer error has caused you damages, we may be able to help you pursue recovery. Mr. De Luna is an experienced tax litigation lawyer and a CPA-Certified Public Accountant who worked for the Internal Revenue Service as an IRS Agent for 13 years and in the corporate world for a publicly traded company overseeing IRS Audits and tax compliance before entering private practice. Mr. De Luna is also an adjunct professor of accounting and speaks regularly to lawyer groups on legal topics involving tax litigation, IRS collections and accounting malpractice. Mr. De Luna and the attorneys at De Luna Law, have the experience to help you deal with tax preparer errors and tax return mistakes.

Call 800-897-4076 for a free initial tax return analysis. We can thoroughly review your situation to see if filing a lawsuit to pursue your damages is a viable option.