A double tax penalty and a fictitious bill
They caused me a double tax penalty and then tried to intimidate me to pay a fictitious bill. I engaged with them early March 2023 to do basic bookkeeping & taxes for a young startup (less than 30 transaction on a single bank account). They charged me a $2000 retainer but did not file by April 2023. They submitted an extension and finally filed in Oct 2023 - but advised me to pay the wrong amount. This caused me two tax penalties - first for late payment and second, for underpayment. When I got the IRS notices, after 7 emails to them, they failed to take action or advise me how to resolve the situation, leaving me to engage a different firm. However, soon after, they did send me something - a second bill for an additional $2700. Claiming it was "for the services performed". When I refused to pay pointing out the above, Chris replied saying that "it was my fault for waiting too long to engage someone to do the books" and that "the bill will increase bill by 50% and be sent to collections" if I didn't pay. These are the basic facts of the case. Update: In response to the above, Chris emailed me saying that I actually owed them an "additional $3,877.6", but that he would be so gracious as to subtract my tax penalty from their bill. Still zero apologies. Judge yourself whether you want to work with them.
By Michael F.