I used Trader's Accountant for the first time for 2006 returns. As I filed an extension, the tax due was October 15, Monday. I submitted all my paperwork to them over a month ago, and repeatedly followed up with them re the status. They finally contacted me by email on October 13, Friday around 5:30pm with some questions. They insisted that they would not file returns electronically and said they would fedex hard copies of returns on Sat afternoon to have them delivered to me on Monday. As I found out that they actually did not send the fedex package (the assistant emailed me with a tracking number, but the CPA did not bother to let me know that they failed to meet the fedex dead line nor their alternative plans.) , I emailed Sat afternoon re the status, but they ignored my emails until finally a soft copy of returns was emailed to me around 11:30pm on Sunday night. All the originals W-2 forms and other originals were still with them on Monday, and I did not know until Sunday night when and how I was going to get my returns, I was extremely frustrated. On October 15, I had to go to Kinko to print everything out and make photocopy of W-2 forms, etc. (cost me $40), as the originals were still with Traders Accounting. During the whole time, they did not pick up any of my calls nor returned my calls. They pretty much ignored all my questions, until they finished the returns, which was extremely frustrating, as I was not sure whether they will finish my returns on time. At one point, they said that they could not access to my Cybertrader's account and that they will file returns without the info., and will file amendments afterwards. Today, I just received an email from their accounting dept. that they charged an additional fee to my credit card, which resulted a double amount of their original estimate. As far as I know, there was no surprise that would trigger additional costs. Can someone give me an input? I don't think it's fair that after all what I had to go through, they have charged additional fee. I was required to make an advance payment of $500, and they charged another $400. Their estimate was around $400. Thanks.
Call Paul Mann at daytradertax dot com that who I used. A stand up guy not over priced hype like the other guys you used. Yes I checked them out and the are way over-priced for what they deliver. Good luck. I say call them and tell them they didn't fulfill their responsibilities so you are reducing payment by a reasonable amount, you decide. Post Edit. TA wanted to charge me $3k for a double entity, Paul says that's a waste of money and charges me $600 to INC. a couple of years ago. FYI I know most of the tax code so I use a accountant of a long time and she charges me $300 for my LLC taxes for trading, she is very slow though.
Nothing like waiting 'til the last minute, you had all of your documents January 2007 yet you waited until September to hire an accountant. el f'ing surdo
Thanks for the info., dandeq ! I was also looking for a new CPA, as I will definitely not go to them again. I will see if I can negotiate. The problem is that they just do not pick up calls, return my calls nor hardly respond to my emails. I have a feeling that they will ignore my request. Left messages already, and as expected, I have not heard anything from them. The thing is I was referred by a trading school to TA. So I initially talked to the head CPA of TA, and he was nice before I became their client and said that I could call him anytime. When I emailed the head CPA re the issues that I was having, he also ignored me. Yes, he seems busy attending conferences and marketing, but once you become their client, it's a nightmare. He also tried to make me set up an entity, which I refused.
You can always dispute any credit card charges with your bank. If you explain the situation, they will at least contact them. As soon as their $$$ is involved, you just might hear from them.
Thanks, brown. I have contacted my credit card company today. They told me that it's hard for them to dispute if TA delivered services, which I guess they did, by emailing me a copy of the return 30 min. before the deadline day....Their service is definitely far from my expectations.....I should look into this one more time though. thanks.
What did you go through? Seriously, you had to copy the documents? Obviously you should find out what they charged the additional fee for. Call accounting and find out. If they can't tell you what the fee is for, then that's a different matter. Personally, if I thought I had a legitimate gripe, or had been improperly charged without my authorization, and I could not contact anyone, then I would file a suit with small claims court and serve it on them. But unless I'm missing something, I'm not seeing what the problem is exactly. The fact that they took until Sunday is really not unusual with accountants. The got you your forms, even if you had to photocopy them. To me, the only question revolves around the extra charge. OldTrader
Old Trader, Thanks for your prospective. The issues that I had was I could not trust them at all (they lied, completely ignored my inquiries, and it was my first time to deal with TA), so I was not sure until 11:30 pm that they are actually going to finish my returns on time. In the end, you're right that I got my returns. I was finally relieved on Sunday night. But they are the one that told me that I need hard copies, since they won't file electronically. When they missed the last fedex deadline for the docs to be delivered on time, they did not even bother to let me know that they will email me a pdf and that pdf should be fine. No contact or communication at all until Sunday midnight. At the point, I really did not trust their professionalism so I was extremely stressed out. Even though before I signed up an agreement for the service, I was explained that trade entries would be handled by someone with cheaper rate, they charged for the whole service at a higher rate, which double the amount from the original estimate. Their only interest is to after you money. I mean it's a business, I understand, but I feel that I was treated extremely bad.