Average Cost for Tax Prep

babyzilla

Like I said before, I'm not too competent with the tax world, but she threw every excuse/reason at us. None of it sounded right to us. She bragged about all her degrees and how low her rates are (the rates we didn't even see). Honestly I feel so stupid about this whole thing. I should have known better and I usually make calculated decisions...I supposed I was due for a bump in the road. Mind you, she complained to us about having about 7 turn overs because the admins she would hire to help all sucked apparently. She even made fun of someone for being fat. I can't even believe I'm saying that and complaining about doing business with her. However, I make note of the turnovers because the admins were getting confused with out paperwork. They reached out to us at least twice asking for the same thing that we had already submitted, and one time I even dropped in to make sure they had our stuff and didn't lose it - you will see her response to this below. She probably had no idea about her admins reaching out to us in redundancy.
Anyways, you asked about her "reasons:"

Before I close your account, I feel the need to respond to some of your comments below . . .

You mention that you “aren’t feeling good about this at all and we are very concerned.” I’m not clear on what you are “concerned” about.
I don’t know why you were expecting to pay $300 for your returns. I never quoted you this amount. Nor did I tell you that your return would be somewhere between my minimum of “$150 and 1000s”.
Me, “as the expert in this field,” could not have given you an appropriate estimate for your return at our first meeting, as you neglected to bring all required documents, including things you were specifically instructed to bring with you. When you unexpectedly showed up at my office on another day with additional documents, I was meeting with another taxpayer and couldn’t review anything with you. There was still information missing that was important and relevant which we only found out after subsequently e-mailing you on several occasions. As I recall, I never did receive the health insurance forms we asked you for. I can only give an accurate cost estimate if I have all required information.
May I remind you that you signed a legally binding contract to have me prepare your returns. My obligation to you is to prepare the returns accurately. Your obligation to me is to pay me for the work completed. How the billing is determined is detailed in the engagement letter and is based on the time and complexity involved in the preparation of complete and accurate tax returns. Taxpayers are not invoiced based on their ability to pay, what they think they should pay, or what they want to pay.
This same engagement letter also specifies that you are allowed 15 minutes of my time to answer any questions about your return. I have spent way more than that amount of time trying to explain to you what is involved with your returns and why I charged what I did. Maybe when you get the package you will better understand what is involved.
And finally, I recall you telling me you gave me your business because you read my good reviews online. Those are reflective of my professional services. I feel I need to share with you that you are the ONLY client that has complained about my invoice this year.

That being said, I will mail your package out to you in the morning. I will transmit your federal return today. And I will write off $450, the balance of your invoice, as a bad debt.

This will be my last e-mail as I can’t incur any more time on your behalf. Good luck to you both.