Pattison, Koskey, Howe & Bucci, CPA's P.C.

This is my second and final response on the above referenced matter. I acknowledge my client's concerns in regards  to the filing of his 2014 and 2015 returns and the fee generated. We made every effort to contact the client at the telephone numbers he gave us. They were documented by my receptionist and also confirmed at my meeting. As far as the alleged inaccurate returns, they were prepared based on the information provided to us. We gave the returns to Mr. [redacted] to be reviewed and returned to us if there were any questions, these were drafts and could easily be corrected at that stage. The returns were prepared correctly and legally based on the information provided by my client, subject to review. Our client came in to have me process these returns so that he could apply for a loan. There was a large volume of returns in my office to be processed, Mr. [redacted]'s was still prepared promptly, especially knowing he was in desperate need of a loan. Our client was clearly upset that there was tax owed. According to Mr. [redacted]'s response, upon his completion of the return, there was money owed back to him. This is clearly unlikely having a Schedule C and no estimated tax payments paid in the prior year. Either Mr. [redacted] did not give us all of the documents to prepare his returns or it was prepared incorrectly for tax year 2014.  For 2015 we prepared the return which did result in a refund due to the earned income credit. As far as the duplication of a $6,000 expense, we took the expenses that were given to us  and if this was the case and he prepared the return without this duplication he would have owed additional money and not got a refund. In regards to the 2014 earned income credit- the earned income was allowed based on Mr. [redacted]'s income and did not take into consideration any children, as none were being claimed in 2014. I'm not sure that Mr. [redacted] clearly understands the guidelines for preparing such a return. As far as the documents being prepared with mistakes and not in a timely manner, Mr. [redacted] came into my office as a new client in 2016 to prepare a 2014 return that was already late and as far as the inaccuracies, our client is self-employed and jotted down numbers on a single piece of paper. Normally we receive additional information such as bank statements and other documentation in order to verify these expenses. That is why I gave the client the returns to review prior to processing them and to drop off additional  information.  I am not going to compare fees charged by another accountant as I don't know his 2013 situation, but for 2014 and  2015 there are other forms besides a business tax return that needed to be completed. This included the earned incomecredit and health insurance form 8965. A fee of $350 for each return is very low compared to the norm in this area. We are an accredited CPA firm not a sole proprietorship that runs on less overhead. I could not give an estimate because I did not know what it was going to entail going through his income and expenses. I also did not know at the time what  schedules needed to be prepared. The client was in a rush to get the returns completed and did not even ask for an estimate at my meeting. I am not going to waste any more time on this matter. As I stated in the previous letter, I personally prepare over 550 tax returns per year and our Firm prepares over 7,000; we have zero complaints with the Revdex.com. Again, I am not drastically reducing a fee that was derived fairly. Mr. [redacted] is not Certified Public Accountant and he is not qualified to critique my work in the accounting field, nor would I critique the work he does in his field. I prepared his tax returns honestly, professionally and accurately and stand behind my work 100%.  Sincerely yours, Bradley [redacted], CPA Shareholder

I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and have determined that this does not resolve my complaint.  For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below.  In response to the firms letter. I asked several times what the fee would be to process the documents, all the times were asked to the secretary because thats who usually deals with the billing. When I quickly reviewed the documents before signing, I found several errors. In the year 2014 taxes, there was a $6000 write off that was counted twice, bringing my income 6000 less than it shouldve been, so if anything, that error would have cheated the irs out of the tax I owed on it. Also for 2014, there was never supposed to be an earned income credit because the child was already claimed by the spouse. These are findings that show me the preparer was clearly not able to pay attention to what was said and what I wrote down. I spelled out all my expenses and income, etc. on a piece of paper that was very straight forward and easy to understand. After waiting weeks just to get a response saying they just did my returns that day, I went into the office within 10 mins of our phone conversation, and it is then that I asked to have the document that I provided to them given back to me, (they had my only copy of it). I was very shocked that the returns were prepared without me knowing how much it would be. I came to greene county from rhinebeck in dutchess county 3 years ago, where I had an accountant that did the same exact work for me for $170, this is in rhinebeck, which is a high end town where all the rates are double that of greene county, but somehow Its twice as much in greene county, which is the poorest county around the area. But in all due respect this firms rates are none of my business, however, when an estimate is not given, how can one expect to charge whatever they please? The tax documents were prepared with mistakes and they were late, I should not have to pay full price, especially when they claim to have prepared for example the earned income credit which was not done, they simply did not take the time to pay attention. I did not lie about anything I said in the previous complaint, I prepared the taxes myself and paid an online company to file for me. This firm told me they charge alot because they are the ones who have to put their name on it, which has no validity because I have to sign them saying I am responsible anyways, as well as the fact that they did not file my returns so they are not responsible for anything. So I fail to see why I should be charged for returns that were not filed, therefor no risk. This firm contacted me several times by phone, I also left them my phone number, the same one of which ive had for 12 years, it was never shut off. Again they simply did not pay attention and got my number wrong, but theres no excuse there, they had already contacted me several times on the number which they claimed was "shut off". The other number is only for outgoing calls and I do not have a voicemail, but I only gave that to them for a backup. The fact is that I needed my taxes done quick to receive a loan, they could not provide me with service in a timely manner so I took matters to my own hands and ended up with getting money back from the irs instead of paying them, and this is after I used the same figures I had already given them to simply plug into the computer. I would be glad to null and void this complaint after my bill has been either eliminated or reduced drastically to an agreeable amount. But until then I will proceed with every remedy possible. Regards,  [redacted]