Bezzina and Company

Review: [redacted] and I met, I provided him my information to handle my 2012 tax return. He said he'd have it available next week, he would give me 3 days to review the tax return and then I could confirm that he would file the return. 3 weeks goes by and then I get a call saying it's ready to be picked up. Because of scheduling conflicts and his unwillingness to meet me at his 2nd office in Manhattan, [redacted] secretary said that I could mail payment for his services and upon receiving the payment, they would overnight my documents so I could review prior to submitting to the IRS. I mailed him payment, he cashed my check, and then I NEVER received my tax return and personal documentation. He also filed my tax return LATE and it was filed NOT as we had agreed, therefore when filing my return, the IRS swept my bank account clean entirely and that was NEVER once agreed to with [redacted]. I called multiple times to request to speak with [redacted] and he's ducked and dodged every call or they did not answer. He has yet to respond, he won't provide me with my personal, private, tax documentation, & 2012 tax return. In addition to the above, I cannot nor was ever able to review my tax return prior to filing.

His business practice is shady, unethical and I am extremely disgruntled at the malpractice of a CPA. His license should be revoked for lack of ethical dilligence and responsibility.Desired Settlement: I would like [redacted] to finish the job by providing me with all of my personal documents that were used to complete my tax return. I also demand he provide me with my entitled 2012 tax return, and in addition to completing the actual job, I expect [redacted] to reimburse me the $250 I paid him for his services because due to the method and ways in which he filed my return, I incurred several bank fees to my accounts and the accounts were over drafted because of the way in which [redacted] filed my return. I was left with $0.00 dollars to exist on for 9 days.

Business

Response:

I want to first start out stating I have been a CPA in public practice for over 27 years and have never had a complaint filed against me. I am a member of multiple professional organizations, including the [redacted], [redacted], [redacted]. I attend numerous seminars annually to constantly stay abreast of current laws. I have in excess of 500 individual clients that I personally serve each year. [redacted] had a very complicated tax return only due to the fact that there were 3 states involved and the federal return. He is a first year client, so I was willing to only charge $250 for a tax return that most CPAs would start at $500. His tax return was completed on 9/**/13. I mentioned to him that I work very late and I will wait for him to pick up his tax return, even up to 10pm, if necessary. My office is in [redacted], Queens and I live 45 minutes away in Long Island. My receptionist mentioned to him a number of times I had no problem waiting for h im. He kept cancelling his appointments to meet me. Finally, we said just mail us a check and then we will mail out your tax return to you. We sent out his signature pages for him to sign so that when we receive payment, we will send out his information and file his tax return. It is our office policy to get paid before we file a tax return. There have been too many times in the past when a new client would get free service.....It seems to me that this is what he was trying to do. We received an email from him on 10/**/13 stating he really appreciates all that we have done, but, now with his scheduling conflicts, he is stuck. We finally received his check and e-filed his tax return ON TIME. He never mentioned that he couldnt pay the tax due. He signed the authorization forms indicating the funds would come directly out of his account? If he didnt want us to withdraw the funds from his account, why would he have given us his banking information? As far as the documentation go es, my receptionist mailed out the tax return to him on 10/**/13, the day we received his check. He keeps stating that I have not been returning calls. My receptionist has taken every one of his calls and specifically asks how she can help. His only concern was that he didnt receive his documentation. There is no reason for us to keep original documentation of our clients. We do not have the physical capacity to store everything. He has a [redacted]. We asked him if he wanted his tax return to be sent to the [redacted] or his parents address. He specifically stated to send to the [redacted]. I do hope he has received his information because it has never come back to us. I am sure he will be able to verify that we sent out his information based on the postmark date. It sounds to me like he didnt get away with a free tax return and he is further taking out his frustrations with the post office on us. The bottom line, he had 3 weeks to resolve this problem. He could have overnighted a chec k OR even regular mail and we would have sent out his package and he STILL would have had more than 2 weeks to review his tax return and information.