Firing somebody is never fun, however, it is something you may have to do from time to time. Believe it or not, this is not always associated with your place of employment. Instead, you may find yourself having to fire a service provider such as a tax professional, attorney, or contractor.
For the sake of this article, we are going to take a closer look at some of the many reasons why you may have to fire your tax professional.
If you are lucky, you will never find yourself in this position. That being said, it is something that a lot of people have faced in the past and many others are dealing with right now.
I can speak from experience on this one, being that I just had to let my tax professional go after this past tax season.
This is never easy to do, but when it comes to your money you have to play it smart. You cannot let your tax professional drag you down just because you are afraid to move on.
Why I Fired my Tax Professional
Before you take this piece the wrong way, I want to make it known that I didn’t fire my tax professional for no good reason. Instead, there were several details that led to this coming to fruition.
Here are five reasons that led to the dismissal of my tax professional:
1. Never available. Despite telling me that she was always available via phone and email, it would take a minimum of three days to receive a response. As you can imagine, this is entirely too long when it comes to tax related questions.
2. Too many mistakes. This is the one that killed me the most. There is nothing worse than mistakes on a tax return. Not only can this get you in hot water with the IRS as well as your state and local authorities, but it can cost you a lot of time and money in the long run.
On my 2012 final return, it only took me a few minutes to point out a couple mistakes (with more to follow). Fortunately, I had the chance to review the return before it was filed. This saved me from the pain of having to file an amended return.
3. Cost me money in the past. This includes a smaller refund, having to pay her for additional hours, and the cost of my time during the work day.
There is nothing worse than silly mistakes and laziness leading to lost money. However, this is exactly what happened to me over the past two years. I should have moved on sooner, but I didn’t. Sometimes it takes losing money to learn your lesson.
4. Not going above and beyond. There are hundreds of thousands of tax professionals who are more than capable of filing the appropriate returns. Some are willing to go above and beyond, helping you save, while others just want to get the job done so they can receive payment. My tax professionals fit into the latter group.
I want somebody who can help me save now, while also looking towards the future. I didn’t have this with my past tax professional, but I do now.
5. Spent too much of my own time double checking her work. I am not a tax professional, and have never claimed to be. It is easy enough for me to double check numbers on a tax return, but when it comes to the finer details I have no clue as to what is going on.
With my past tax professional, I was always concerned that another mistake would be made. For this reason, I spent entirely too much of my own time trying to review every last detail of her work.
Final Thoughts
On a personal level, I never had any issue with my tax professional. Unfortunately, she never lived up to my professional expectations.
If you are facing one or more of these same issues, I urge you to reconsider what you are doing. As difficult as it may be, the time is here for you to fire your tax professional.