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Is k-1 tax accounting a speciality? Just got ditched by an accountant

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.

Reply to
jo
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I'm surprised you even found an accountant willing to speak to you between March 15 and April 15. MLPs can be a major headache even for experienced tax preparers. Just because this accountant does the tax work for an ongoing business doesn't mean he has relevant experience with regard to your investments. I'm not conversant with PA personal income tax, but I have prepared a number of PA partnership returns and they are very different beasts from the federal 1065.

Your best bet is to file for an extension and then start looking again for a tax preparer after 4/15.

Ira Smilovitz

Reply to
ira smilovitz

Ira:

I think his complaint was the shabby way he was treated. It was unprofessional

Mel

Reply to
MZB

[...]
[...]

I agree with the above response. You waited until the peak of the filing season to send your documents "with very specific questions", after delaying almost 3 weeks from your initial conversation. You weren't even engaging for tax return preparation, you just wanted someone to review your self-prepared TurboTax return, something very few tax professionals will do (but I hear H&R Block will do it for free...).

You are (were) not a client, you are a prospective client. The fact he talked to you in the first place was probably more as a favor to the referrer than anything else.

Perhaps he should have offered to work with you on extension, that's it.

Here's the clincher from your rant:

Yup, it's so easy, anyone can do it.

Reply to
Mark Bole

Mel, you are right that I was venting about not being treated professionally. If he had seemed the least bit reluctant to take on this project on a consulting basis, or was too busy, I would have expected him to voice his reservations up front. If, after looking at my documents, he found he was out of his league (or any other issue), he should have notified me immediately. I don't expect people to perform miracles, but I do expect a professional level of communication. I didn't get anything for 10 days, and not until I pushed for it, and I kind of doubt I would ever have gotten it otherwise. It's a bad PR move, because if he had handled it better, he very well could have ended up with all my future tax work, possibly my sister's, and of course referrals. It just makes him look bad, especially with him claiming that he doesn't know anyone to whom he could refer me to in the Philadelphia area,but was sure I could find someone. REally? Just throw a dart at the phone book or some internet list of account ants? He has no colleagues who understand K-1s? Come on. That's ridiculous.

Moving on....

Jo (female, btw)

Reply to
jo

On 2015-04-01 21:38, jo wrote: [...]

feedback on what I see as a total lack of professionalism, I'm interested.

between March 15 and April 15. [...]

Your complaint boils down to, he didn't meet your unspoken timeline for providing an estimate, after you dawdled for 3 weeks with providing documents and the peak of tax season work had already arrived. What makes you think he dropped everything else to look at your documents the day you finally gave him them? You have given no indication that you actually entered into a written engagement with this professional.

I don't see that as unprofessional. He did, in fact, respond in a timely fashion when you contacted him for a follow-up.

Would you waltz into a busy attorney's office, say that you've already prepared your own living trust document via Legalzoom, but you want him to review 3 paragraphs for you, and demand that he give you an estimate right away or refer you to someone who can?

What about your responsibility to inform the preparer that you couldn't wait, and that if he couldn't commit to an engagement right away, you were going to keep shopping around?

Reply to
Mark Bole

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