Tax Preparer Error

What is the name of your state? Georgia

I paid a tax preparation service to do my income taxes and received a significant refund. A year later, the IRS has contacted me that a mistake was made and that I owe them the majority of that money back. The tax preparer took a look at it and agrees that they made a mistake and that I have to pay the money back.

My question is, when a preparer makes a mistake like this, what is it reasonable to expect them to offer to me to in some way compensate for their making this error and inconveniencing me? I had not paid that fee when the taxes are prepared to protect against mistakes that they ask you if you want to pay when the taxes are prepared.

Do companies every offer anything when they make mistakes like this? Is there anything that I should feel comfortable asking them for to compensate me for their mistake? Thanks.

As a general rule, they should be responsible for any penalties resulting from the mistake as well as amending if necessary. If you agree with the adjustments the IRS made then no amended return is necessay.

The tax was always your responsibility and you pay the interest since you had the use of the money. Whether the preparer wants to do any more than pay penalties to compensate you for your trouble is a matter of reputation and public relations.

At my office, we'd pay the interest & penalties, amend for free, & refund your prep fee if it was our mistake. If it was your mistake, we'd explain where you screwed up, let you sit in one of our uncomfortable chairs while we prepared the amendment, then charge you for our extra work. Your mileage may vary.

Our office also pays the interest and penalties, but we don't always refund their fees. We do sometimes, but not always.

Our office pays the penalties. You are responsible for the tax and interest. You've had use of the money for a year. Generally we will also refund the cost of the preparation.