Top Notch Income Tax

My name is *** ** *** the owner of Top Notch Income Tax Services, LLC, and the Tax Professional that prepared Mr*** *** ***, tax return. I would like to begin by
addressing some of the accusation stated by Mr*** *** *** He did come in the tax office between February and 26, and prepared his taxesHe signed a statement giving his friend permission to pick up his check. The day that Mr*** **., checked was printed; I called him personally, and told him that the check was ready for pick up. He stated that his friend would pick up the check the next day.
The next day when his friend came to get the check, that is when I (Tax Professional) noticed that the check was missing. I asked his friend if she could call Mr*** **., and she stated that he was in classShe also stated that he would call back after he realizes she is blowing his phone up. I explained everything to his friend and apologized a trillion times. I immediately, called Santa Barbara Tax Group Bank trying to have them stop the verification of the check, but the person I spoke to on the phone told me that the check had verified, and it would be two to three days before they would know what bank had cashed the check.
Mr*** stated that it was days before he was notified. His friend was notified the day when I realized the check was missing and Mr*** **called her on the cell phone while I was talkingShe was his representative at that time because he signed a document giving her permission to pick up his check. I also called Mr*** **that next day because I sent a form to Santa Barbara Tax Group Bank about trying to retrieve another check for him. The form was the Indemnity Bond for Tax Professional however, it was the wrong form, it should have been the indemnity Bond for Tax Preparer and I needed his signature. I called Mr*** **several times trying to find out the status of what was going on with the check and he always responded back to me with I got this under control or I’m handling this.
Mr*** **stated we were sitting in a place with no privacy and the check was not secured. Mr*** **had no problem with the privacy when his tax return was being processed or the areas where I was sitting. He had that right when he came into the office to have someone else in the office process his tax return or go to another tax office where he was comfortable with the areaIn reference to the check not being secured Mr*** check was properly put in a file cabinet that night with the rest of the checks
Mr*** **stated he had to have my whole state tax refund check taken away to pay for fees. I would like to explain how the fees are processed through Santa Barbara to Top Notch Income tax services. If the state refund processes before the federal refund then the fee is taken from the stateIf the federal refund processes before the state refund then the fee is taken from the federal. However, if the state refund is not enough for the fees charged then some of the fees are pulled from the state along with Santa Barbara Tax Group bank fees and the rest of the fees are taken from the federal. Therefore, it might look like the state fees were taken, but actually it paid some of the fees and therefore normally the clients receive majority of refund from federal or all of their federal refund because the fees was paid from state
Mr*** *** ***, desired settlement, I (Tax Professional) will not be giving back the full fees because Mr*** **will be receiving his check but at a later date. Mr*** **received professional service. The service performed to Mr*** **was with the upmost respect and knowledge of a true Tax Professional. I too will bring legal charges toward the person who stolen from my office after I left for the day. Mr*** **should press charges against the person who stole the check from my office
Mr*** **., I am very sorry for the inconvenience this has caused on you. I cannot apologize enoughEvery day I think about this situation and my heart is filled with pain. I do believe that with effective communication amongst Mr*** **and I, this fee issue could have been resolved