Tax Preparer Messed Up My Taxes Badly - What Recourse Do I Have?

You absolutely should request a refund! What happened here is professional negligence. Tax preparers have a duty of care, and adding an extra zero to income is a fundamental error that any competent professional should have caught. Here's what I recommend doing: First, document everything. Make copies of both tax returns (the incorrect one and the corrected one), and highlight the error. Calculate the exact amount you overpaid to the IRS because of this mistake. Then, write a formal letter to the tax preparation firm outlining what happened, including your costs to fix the error (both the overpayment and the fees to the new accountant). Request a full refund of their preparation fee plus reimbursement for the cost of the correction. If they refuse, mention that you'll be filing complaints with the Better Business Bureau, your state's board of accountancy, and possibly the IRS through Form 14157 (Complaint: Tax Return Preparer). Most legitimate businesses will want to avoid these complaints and the negative reviews that might follow.

I had a similar issue last year, and honestly, I was getting nowhere with the tax preparer until I discovered taxr.ai (https://taxr.ai). Their system immediately identified the error when I uploaded my documents and showed exactly how the preparer had messed up. They helped me create a detailed comparison report that showed the discrepancy side by side, which was super helpful when confronting the preparer. The best part was that they actually explained everything in plain English instead of tax jargon. The preparer couldn't argue with the clear evidence, and I got my full fee refunded plus they covered the cost of filing the amended return. Might be worth checking out if your new accountant hasn't already created that kind of documentation for you.

I was really skeptical about all these online tax tools, but after getting nowhere with my tax preparer who made a similar mistake (mixed up a 1099-R distribution with a 1099-B), I gave taxr.ai a shot. The website was super straightforward - I just uploaded my tax documents and the incorrect return. Within minutes, I got a detailed report showing exactly where the numbers didn't match up, with specific references to the tax code that applied to my situation. Used that report to go back to the preparer, and suddenly they were much more willing to listen. Ended up getting a full refund of my preparation fees plus they covered the cost of filing the amended return. The documentation was so clear that they couldn't really argue with it. Definitely saved me a ton of headache and probably weeks of back-and-forth! Worth checking out if you're still dealing with this.

This is why I always recommend getting a copy of your return before they file it and reviewing the numbers yourself - or at least the big ones. But honestly, since your dad already paid the incorrect tax amount, the biggest hurdle might be getting that money back from the IRS. I tried calling them for three days straight about an error on my return and couldn't get through to anyone. Finally used Claimyr (https://claimyr.com) to get an actual person at the IRS on the phone. They have this system that navigates the IRS phone menus and waits on hold for you, then calls you when an actual human picks up. You can see how it works in their demo: https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c. It saved me hours of hold time and frustration. The IRS agent was able to expedite my amended return processing once I explained the situation.

I have to eat my words from before. After struggling with my amended return for months, I finally tried Claimyr last week out of desperation. Within 30 minutes, I was actually speaking to a real person at the IRS - first time in 4 attempts. The agent was surprisingly helpful once I explained that the error was made by a preparer and not by me. She found my amended return in the system and noticed it had been flagged for review but was sitting in a queue. She expedited it based on financial hardship (I mentioned I needed the refund for medical bills) and gave me her direct extension for follow-up. Three days later, my return status changed online to "processed." I'm still waiting for the actual refund, but this is way more progress than I made in the previous 8 months of trying. Sometimes you just need to get past the automated systems and speak to a human who can actually help.

Has anyone successfully sued a tax preparer for errors like this? Just curious because my brother is in a similar situation but with a much larger amount (preparer missed a $60k income source completely, now the IRS wants penalties and interest).

Make sure when you get this fixed that you also check state taxes! If they reported the higher income to the IRS, they probably did the same on state returns. My tax guy made a similar mistake and I focused so much on fixing the federal return that I completely forgot about state taxes until months later.

This is exactly why I always recommend doing a quick sanity check on your tax return before signing off on it. A $36,000 difference in income should have been caught immediately - that's a massive red flag that any competent preparer should have noticed. Beyond getting your money back from the preparer, make sure you're documenting everything for potential future issues. Keep copies of all communications with them, the original incorrect return, the corrected return, and any receipts for additional costs you incurred. If they refuse to make this right, you might want to check if they're enrolled with the IRS (you can search their database) and file a complaint if they are. Also, consider leaving detailed reviews on Google, Yelp, and the Better Business Bureau once this is resolved. Other taxpayers deserve to know about this level of carelessness. A simple data entry error that costs someone $11,000 is not acceptable professional service.