Tax PSA

"Nearly 1 of every 6 tax returns filed so far includes errors in reporting last year’s federal stimulus payments, the Internal Revenue Service said, blaming confusion among professional tax preparers and early releases of tax software."


Software can understandably be flawed, especially early releases of something new.  I would like to know how many of these professional tax preparers are getting this wrong because clearly this degree of incompetence in their profession is something that should be highlighted.  I understand if people didn't remember that it wasn't taxable (I won't go as far to excuse not knowing because the letter which came with the check did clearly state that it wasn't taxable).  I will not excuse a professional for this disregard.


A week ago I got some prior returns from a prospective client.  In order to estimate their fees I reviewed their return in detail in order to determine their complexity.  I found in my short review 2 glaring errors that to me are so Tax 101 that I'm embarrassed that a professional practitioner did not catch it.  In the end our fees were likely too high and this client will go to some other practitioner but I included a letter with my observation of the errors so they could hopefully realize the value of a professional reviewing a return rather than the individual practitioners who claim to be professionals.  It's a matter of pride.