ComplaintsforLaura Johnson Accounting Services Inc.

• Initial Complaint

  03/05/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I had 2020 taxes prepared in 2021 by Laura Johnson. I got a letter telling me there was a mistake with the taxes. I contacted her, and she told me to bring her the letter. She told me she would take care of it. I had no reason to believe she had not taken care of it. I called her twice to see if it was done. She told me she had trouble getting through to the **** I was, however, able to get through. I got a letter in February stating I owe $1500 on my taxes. Most of the charge is penalties and interest. There was a miscalculation on Schedule A. The *** states I am in compliance. If she had fixed the problem the first time, there would be no penalties or interest. I tried to call her, and I have not received a call back.

  Business response

  03/26/2024

  I did prepare the 2020 tax return BASED ON THE INFORMATION that ***************** provided for the return.  She inadvertently gave me some erroneous information which caused the problem on the tax return.  ***************** did NOT bring me any notices regarding the problem with the return.  I had no awareness that there was a problem until she contacted me on March 1 regarding it.  She states she was going to bring me a copy of the notices as well as the transcription from the *** when she got it from the ***. 

  Instead she contacted her lawyer who sent me a letter dated March 1. 2024 to which I responded on March 5, 2024 that I would be glad to check it out once she had the transcription from the *** so that I could verify it against what I prepared.  I replied to her lawyer explaining that ***************** had not brought me any prior notices nor did I know that there was a problem but I would look at it once I had the transcription from the *** and explained how she could obtain that information herself online.

  Once ***************** dropped off the transcription from the *** (which she already had received from the *** prior to her contacting me on March 1, 2024), I was quickly able to see that they had disallowed $3120 in taxes from her Schedule A which she told me were real estate taxes.  I called the *** on March 18, 2024 and it was confirmed by the *** that the $3120 was NOT real estate taxes but was in fact Condo fees which are not deductible. 

  Since ***************** made the mistake on her listing of items to be included on her return stating they were real estate taxes, I am not responsible for her mistake nor for any resulting penalties and interest,.

  I prepared the return in good faith based on the information that she gave me.  If she would take the time to read the Declaration of Preparer other than taxpayer on her return, it states that the return is based on all of the information that the preparer has any knowledge.  Since I did not have knowledge that those were condo fees instead of real estate taxes, I am not liable for her error nor for the taxes, penalties and interest.
  

  Customer response

  04/04/2024

  I created a spreadsheet and listed it as condo fees when I brought it to the tax preparer. She should have known it was condo fees. I called and asked if an amendment could be done on my taxes and she hung up on me. 

  Business response

  04/23/2024

  ***************** is incorrect.  Her spreadsheet listed the $3120 as REAL ESTATE TAXES, not condo fees.  I have a copy of the original spreadsheet that she brought to me when I prepared the tax return.  Even if they WERE real estate taxes, the ******** were OVER the SALT limitation of $10,000 so none of that would have been deductible anyway. 

  There was also another problem with the return that was found on the *** transcript.  ***************** claimed they had NOT received any of the economic impact stimulus payments.  According to the *** this is incorrect.  The ******** received $600 in payment so they were only entitled to a refund of the remaining eligible $3000. 

  Both of these are errors on ********************* part, not mine.  Amending the return will not correct any problem nor change the balance that is due to the ***. 

  I do not feel that any of this is my fault as I prepared the return based on the taxpayer's information that she provided to me and as such I am not responsible for any errors or taxes that are a result of that incorrect data that was provided to me.  Nor am I responsible for any of the penalties and interest on this.  I did hang the phone up when I realized it was her on the phone because she was very obnoxious to me.  I told her that I was in contact with her lawyer and would only deal through him regarding this issue since she went to a lawyer before she ever contacted me regarding the problem.  ***************** needs to realize that she is the cause of the additional taxes owed, and that they are not because of anything I did.  Therefore she is the one responsible for paying the balance due and not me.

  I have tried to resolve this problem but ***************** is not trying to see the real problem lies with the information that she gave to me.  Even when I called the ***, they agreed that amending the return would NOT change the outcome and the Howards would still owe the balance that is currently due.  Had she paid the notice when she first received it, she would have saved herself some interest, penalties and the cost of a lawyer.
  

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