How to Fight an Invoice when No Services Were Provided

My question involves a consumer law issue in the State of: California

I have been getting invoices from an accountant that I asked to amend my tax returns. My tax return was complicated this year and he did not know the law well enough for him to amend it, so wanted me to approach a lawyer and get the lawyer to tell him how to amend the report !:wallbang::wallbang:

I refused, told him that I didn't need to use him if I needed to get a lawyer involved, and that was that. Ever since, he has been sending me invoices for $500 for the tax returns that he never amended !! The latest invoice includes threats to sue me in small claims court and / or report me to the credit bureaus.

Can you give me any advise on how to write him a letter disputing these charges, as he never performed the services he was contracted to do (he never amended any returns !), and also if he can actually report me to the credit bureaus over a disputed bill ? Please advise. Thanks !

He did do some work in that he had to review your returns to determine he could not perform the requested work. I don't know if that would amount to $500 or not but I tend to doubt it.

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Quoting Vendor

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Can you give me any advise on how to write him a letter disputing these charges, as he never performed the services he was contracted to do (he never amended any returns !)

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It's not rocket science. You write him the same thing you just wrote here.

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Quoting Vendor

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and also if he can actually report me to the credit bureaus over a disputed bill ?

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Well, no, at least not unless he was a paying member of a credit bureau. But he can turn the bill over to a collection agency which, in turn, can report the unpaid bill to the credit bureaus.

I agree with free9man that he did do some work in reviewing your return, and you did say it was complicated so that might have been time consuming.

You might be wise to talk to the guy and see if you can reach a compromise where you pay part of it and get a signed agreement that it's full and final for services rendered.

The accountant in question did not know what he was doing. In that case, ethically he should have just said so, and suggested that the OP consult with someone else. Our firm never charges for anything that we are unable to complete, or that we find is beyond our expertise.

Also, $500.00 for an amended return is REALLY expensive.

Hi Everyone,

Would you please review this email I want to send this person ? I just want to make sure that I do not further mess up this situation. Please help. Thanks !

__________________________________________________ ________________________________

Dear CPA,

I am in receipt of your "invoice", suggesting that I pay your office $500 (a $400 "fee" and "interest" of $100). I am confused as to why I owe anything at all on this invoice. As you may recall, when I came to meet you in March, 2016, in order to amend our state and federal tax returns in order to properly report the foreclosure of our primary residence (funded by non-recourse, purchase money loans), you had not indicated that this was not an area of work that you were familiar with. In July or August, you had called me, suggesting that I owed the state $12000 in taxes. At the time, you further wanted us to contact a tax attorney to confirm my assertion that we owed neither federal nor state taxes as these are purchase money loans that are non-recourse, and hence no cancellation of debt income arises that is taxable income for either the State or the IRS. I also sent you copies of the 1099-Cs received by both lenders that clearly showed / ticked the box that stated "Borrower is not personally responsible to pay back this debt", which further confirms that my spouse and I did not owe any taxes to any entity in America. We also discussed that you would not amend my returns and I offered you $200 for an hour's worth of your time.

I am, therefore, shocked by the invoice received from your office. At this moment, although I am unhappy that no amendments were prepared, I will offer you the $200 again as my full and final payment for consulting with you. Please let me know so that I can send you this money immediately as my full and final payment for our consultation with you.

Sincerely,

Vendor.

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Quoting Vendor

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Hi Everyone,

Would you please review this email I want to send this person ? I just want to make sure that I do not further mess up this situation. Please help. Thanks !

__________________________________________________ ________________________________

Dear CPA,

I am in receipt of your "invoice", suggesting that I pay your office $500 (a $400 "fee" and "interest" of $100). I am confused as to why I owe anything at all on this invoice. As you may recall, when I came to meet you in March, 2016, in order to amend our state and federal tax returns in order to properly report the foreclosure of our primary residence (funded by non-recourse, purchase money loans), you had not indicated that this was not an area of work that you were familiar with. In July or August, you had called me, suggesting that I owed the state $12000 in taxes. At the time, you further wanted us to contact a tax attorney to confirm my assertion that we owed neither federal nor state taxes as these are purchase money loans that are non-recourse, and hence no cancellation of debt income arises that is taxable income for either the State or the IRS. I also sent you copies of the 1099-Cs received by both lenders that clearly showed / ticked the box that stated "Borrower is not personally responsible to pay back this debt", which further confirms that my spouse and I did not owe any taxes to any entity in America. We also discussed that you would not amend my returns and I offered you $200 for an hour's worth of your time.

I am, therefore, shocked by the invoice received from your office. At this moment, although I am unhappy that no amendments were prepared, I will offer you the $200 again as my full and final payment for consulting with you. Please let me know so that I can send you this money immediately as my full and final payment for our consultation with you.

Sincerely,

Vendor.

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Quite frankly, I would not be offering him any money at all. I am a tax professional and I am appalled that he is trying to get any money from you at all.

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Quoting llworking

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Quite frankly, I would not be offering him any money at all. I am a tax professional and I am appalled that he is trying to get any money from you at all.

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With a 25% interest on the original invoice at that !!!! Usury, much ?

The only reason I want to settle is because I want to get this monkey off my back. I don't want to end up in small claims court because that is a time investment I don't have.

What is your opinion on the letter, ilworking ? Thanks.

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Quoting Vendor

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With a 25% interest on the original invoice at that !!!! Usury, much ?

The only reason I want to settle is because I want to get this monkey off my back. I don't want to end up in small claims court because that is a time investment I don't have.

What is your opinion on the letter, ilworking ? Thanks.

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Dear CPA,

I am in receipt of the attached invoice. I do not recognize it. You were to provide amended returns to me that you were unable to provide due to you lack of familiarity with the subject involved. Please cancel the attached invoice or I will take matters up with the California Board of Accountancy.

Thank you for your time and attention to this matter.

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Quoting Raster

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IN my lay opinion you say far too much ...if you offered $200 in settlement ...let it stand for now .

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Hi, the offer was made several months ago and he responded stating he will take a partial payment for now. That means he is refusing to accept it and now there is this new invoice for $500. That is why I am "talking too much".

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Quoting llworking

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Dear CPA,

I am in receipt of the attached invoice. I do not recognize it. You were to provide amended returns to me that you were unable to provide due to you lack of familiarity with the subject involved. Please cancel the attached invoice or I will take matters up with the California Board of Accountancy.

Thank you for your time and attention to this matter.

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I want to let you know that I am very thankful for this heads-up. Although I sent out (on the advise of a senior member here) a check for $200, I did call the CBA and left a message. We'll see if they help - at most, they should warn this guy that he acted unethically by failing to disclose his lack of expertise or experience in the subject matter area (COD on personal income taxes), and either force him into issuing a refund OR stop him from reporting me to the CRAs and / or harassing me for more.

Thanks again.

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Quoting Vendor

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Hi, the offer was made several months ago and he responded stating he will take a partial payment for now. That means he is refusing to accept it and now there is this new invoice for $500. That is why I am "talking too much".



I want to let you know that I am very thankful for this heads-up. Although I sent out (on the advise of a senior member here) a check for $200, I did call the CBA and left a message. We'll see if they help - at most, they should warn this guy that he acted unethically by failing to disclose his lack of expertise or experience in the subject matter area (COD on personal income taxes)

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Did you pay him the 200.00 back then?

Yes, I just mailed it out this morning. Unfortunately. I can still stop payment, I guess. I feel like a moron now, ALTHOUGH as I did involve the CBA, though, they may force him to issue a refund... right ? Even if they didn't, I want him to know that he just cannot get away with such behavior and do "research" on a client's dime.

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Quoting Vendor

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Yes, I just mailed it out this morning. Unfortunately. I can still stop payment, I guess. I feel like a moron now, ALTHOUGH as I did involve the CBA, though, they may force him to issue a refund... right ? Even if they didn't, I want him to know that he just cannot get away with such behavior and do "research" on a client's dime.

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Its ok to do research on a client's dime if it actually results in something done for the client. What's wrong here is that the research did not produce the correct result and the CPA did not know enough to realize that. I would not recommend stopping payment, that is just going to exacerbate the situation since you did make the offer.

However, next time don't roll over so fast.

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Quoting llworking

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Its ok to do research on a client's dime if it actually results in something done for the client. What's wrong here is that the research did not produce the correct result and the CPA did not know enough to realize that. I would not recommend stopping payment, that is just going to exacerbate the situation since you did make the offer.

However, next time don't roll over so fast.

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Yes, lesson learned. Should I still pursue this via the CBA ? I am really angry and don't want him to get away with it.

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Quoting Vendor

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Yes, lesson learned. Should I still pursue this via the CBA ? I am really angry and don't want him to get away with it.

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Yes, I would still do that.