alt Hacker NewsSomeone still needs to take liability for mistakes.
The real issue is that accountant most likely has a track record of those kinds of mistakes - but you have no info on other clients. So you weren’t as informed at the time you chose them vs the new one.
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Yeah, I looked him up just now actually, and he has a 3-star rating on Yelp... Which I think is pretty low for accountants?
I think the red flag should have been when he printed out all my tax returns and made me pick them up in person, and didn't even send a digital copy.
In this case accountant DID NOT take liability for mistakes.
It's not the accountant that paid $20k for his mistake but the accountant's client.
i'm a bit unclear who has the liability even when you use a CPA. accountants are humans that sometimes make mistakes.
> Someone still needs to take liability for mistakes.
I am not aware of setups available to me that would transfer liability onto accountant.
So in either case I am taking liability.
(also, I am pretty sure that if corporation loses 10 millions over accountant making bad decisions, they are not going to recover that funds either)
People misunderstand the concept of liability. Yes your tax professional is liabile for fraud or gross misconduct, but if they make a mistake which results in unpaid taxes or fees you're still the one on the hook.