Tax Question

1 : I just received a notice that I failed to file a tax return for local income taxes back in 2011 when I bought my house. My accounting service did not notify me that I had to do this, should I be held responsible for this? 

2 : They said that they would pay half of the penalties because he said that since I worked at MSU, he "assumed" I lived in East Lansing too, which residence do not pay a city tax? 

3 : Is there anything I can do besides get a better accountant? 

Answer :

1 : Basically yes; when a tax Preparer makes a mistake that leads to the incorrect payment of taxes or etc, it is the taxpayer who is held responsible, not the tax Preparer. This makes it imperative to choose your tax Preparer wisely and to review all tax return documents thoroughly prior to submitting them to the taxing authorities, the IRS, state or local taxing authorities.

2 : Errors and omissions in preparing tax returns can occur easily. A tax Preparer usually might accidentally enter a number incorrectly, misinterpret a law, or misconstrue the client’s facts or etc.

3 : I guess while the tax Preparer is not ultimately responsible for the error on your return, some do offer insurance against filing errors. These services promise to pay all or a portion of the fees associated with the mistakes they made on your tax return. As they prepare incorrectly assumed that you lived in East Lansing , which residence do not pay a city tax, the Preparer might bear a little more of the responsibility. Legally of course, you are the one responsible for your own returns as mentioned previously But if the Preparer has some of the responsibility for the mixup, and just missed it, then it would be decent (not legally required) if the Preparer afford to pay the late fees. I guess you can negotiate with the prepared on the issue. By the way, no crime has been committed here.

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