our accountant just charged us $700 for something that seemed relatively simple.
we received a letter from the irs recently saying that the $3k my dad paid in 2006 for his taxes would not be credited and that we now owe another $3k. my dad was very sick at that time and he paid his taxes but did not file his return. he died a couple years later. we hired our family friend accountant to help us tie up loose ends. so we finally filed my dad's 2006 taxes in 2011. the letter said that because we filed the taxes more than 3 years after the due date, we would not be entitled to the $3k he already paid. we figured we could appeal but before i did so, i wanted to run it by my accountant. so i sent my accountant the letter and asked what we should do, if anything. a week later, he said appeal because there's an irs publication (556) that says you can appeal if there was illness/death in that 3 year time.
when i received his $700 bill, i called him and said it seemed very high to tell us what he told us. he said that he had to do a lot of research. but even with research, it still seemed high!
i haven't been 100% happy with him and now this leaves a bad taste in my mouth. for someone who charges $175/hr, shouldn't he have already knows that you can appeal the statute of limitations? he said it was news to him.
it's difficult because he did a very good job at handling my dad's complicated tax returns and estate tax. but this charge really bothers me. even if it did take him hours to research, i was surprised he would bill me for the whole time because he's educating himself!
any advice would be greatly appreciated.
we received a letter from the irs recently saying that the $3k my dad paid in 2006 for his taxes would not be credited and that we now owe another $3k. my dad was very sick at that time and he paid his taxes but did not file his return. he died a couple years later. we hired our family friend accountant to help us tie up loose ends. so we finally filed my dad's 2006 taxes in 2011. the letter said that because we filed the taxes more than 3 years after the due date, we would not be entitled to the $3k he already paid. we figured we could appeal but before i did so, i wanted to run it by my accountant. so i sent my accountant the letter and asked what we should do, if anything. a week later, he said appeal because there's an irs publication (556) that says you can appeal if there was illness/death in that 3 year time.
when i received his $700 bill, i called him and said it seemed very high to tell us what he told us. he said that he had to do a lot of research. but even with research, it still seemed high!
i haven't been 100% happy with him and now this leaves a bad taste in my mouth. for someone who charges $175/hr, shouldn't he have already knows that you can appeal the statute of limitations? he said it was news to him.
it's difficult because he did a very good job at handling my dad's complicated tax returns and estate tax. but this charge really bothers me. even if it did take him hours to research, i was surprised he would bill me for the whole time because he's educating himself!
any advice would be greatly appreciated.
