I am livid. I had a referral to an accountant who does all the tax work for my contractor and his partner, who have multiple properties and businesses. I had a very pleasant conversation with him a month ago, explaining that I was confused about how to report my 2 MLPs to Pennsylvania, since there appears to be adjustments necessary to the values that Turbotax passes over from the Federal side, and there possibly is some issue with bonus depreciation, accdg to the tax package from the MLPs.
The accountant seemed completely open to reviewing my documentation and k-1s and even said that if they had to do research, he wouldn't charge me for it. I sent all my documents via email 10 days ago, with very specific questions.
Having not heard anything, I emailed him last night, just a short note to ask where the project stood. Today I got back what was essentially a kiss off note, saying that it would take too much time and expense to research the area, and it was not their area of expertise. I go no referral to anyone else, and just a "thank you for the opportunity".
I hadn't expected him to not charge me. In fact we had talked about his hourly rate. He had not given me any indication that this was a conditional job. I don't know if he would have bothered to tell me he wasn't going to do the work if I hadn't asked him.
So now I'm left with the same muddle on the filing of K-1s at the state level, and no one I know to call who actually knows this area and won't reject the work. And it's probably too late in the season to find anyone who would have the time. Is this a professional way to treat a client? I am very disillusioned and don't know where to turn. I know K-1s can be a PITA sometimes, but if I have been able to interpret them at the Federal level, just how hard can finding out the state implications can it be? (I've tried, but there are tax code terms that I can't wade thru). I would think any accountant who is the president of his company should have encountered them before, but of course I'm not in the business.
I'm venting, since I just found this out, but if you guys have any feedback on what I see as a total lack of professionalism, I'm interested.