What would you do?

[spanel]

Prepared a return, client signed & paid. All done.

They call back 2 hours later, said they got more back on turbo tax and the return I gave him was wrong.

I Asked for a copy or screenshot of the 1040 or an explanation of what was wrong. Offered to pay to have it looked at by a another professional.

Taxpayer decline to do any of the above and wanted a refund. I politely said no. Told him I would pay to have it fixed if it was wrong, he didn't want any of that, just his money back.

I said no.

Single taxpayer, Made 50k, $300 refund.

Thanks!!

Chris

[ATSMAN]

Hold your ground. I have had similar attempts and when I do get a chance to take a look at their smartphone it is some deduction they took that they are not entitled or did not tell me about. I had one fellow claiming solar credits for some gizmo he put on his roof!

[Twin Turbo Z]

Did you file it ? You dont mention that it was efiled.

[spanel]

If the client had offered you more details of the difference(s) and/or provided a copy of the TT return, I would have taken the time to look at it as a matter of courtesy.
If I made an error, there are ways to address same to include fee reimbursements.
It would take a lot, at t his stage, for me to offer to pay a third party for arbitration.
**BUT** since the client is being uncooperative in providing you needed facts. . .I would consider the matter closed and move on!
(How complicated was a $50k return that TT handled??)

FE

3 W2s, Real estate taxes and Mortgage Interest (standard deduction). Easy return. He would not give me details, so I'm to assume he either used my return to generate the same refund ($3xx) in turbo tax (to not pay my fees) ($125 btw)
or
Wanted to do something shady that he didn't want to tell me about.

Chris

[kathyc2]

What is the nature of your business? Are the vast majority of clients long term that come back year after year, or a walk-in type establishment with a higher turnover of clients annually? If it's the latter and especially if you promote the business on things like Facebook, it may be better to just give him the money and be done with him. Even though it's highly unlikely you made an error, if you have places where people can leave negative reviews, new potential clients may not choose you. Just choose the path of least stress.

[Anarchrist]

Those making an assertion are always the one under obligation to provide evidence for the assertion. He refuses to provide easily providable evidence. The probability of him lying is extremely high. As others have said, move on.

[JohnH]

You have to make a business decision or an emotional decision. Is it good business to avoid having a dissatisfied client? This is someone you want nothing to do with ever again, because he's either stupid and unfair, or he's a crook stealing your time. If a $125 check makes him go away, I'd opt to handle things in such a way that he never returns, or in the unlikely event he does I'll be holding the moral high ground when I tell him to get lost.

On the other hand, if you want to make an emotional decision, hang onto the $125 and your ego can probably get a lot of satisfaction out of showing him he can't push you around. Of course, that might also produce other reactions that are not at all good for your business, but that story is yet to be written.

[WICPA]

If he can't show you an error then you have no need to do anything further. He came to you for service . You provided the service and are entitled to compensation.

[Floridagirl]

I had the same situation. Prepared a TR, husband came in without wife. Needed to take home to have her sign. Gave him a copy of TR -- my bad. Called up and said he got bigger refund on TurboTax. Obviously, I didn't get paid. It will not happen again.

[Lion]

I just send the signature pages only home for the other spouse to sign. One spouse already reviewed the return with me, and the other is welcome to stop by to look it over in our office when she/he returns the signed forms. I too learned the hard way by sending a return home without payment. We don't repeat that again, do we!