All Forum Posts by: Seth James

So I paid a tax pro to do my return, first year was fine, this year she took my money and ghosted me. She never filed my return. I complained and she brushed me off. I disputed the charges with my CC company, and she's tried to block that(I thought BoA would give my money back easy). So after that I started leaving bad reviews online. She' has responded by threatening to "destroy my business." I manage Short and long term rentals. She sent me a screenshot of an airbnb convo where she is apparently trying to get me banned for god knows what(airbnb suspends hosts for false claims all the time). I called the police and they say the theft is only civil and I have to go small claims, and the threats aren't criminal because its not physical violence.  Anyone have advice here? Ive already withdrawn the reviews, and I'm going to try BoA fraud dept again tomorrow. This lady seems legit crazy, and I dont know what she can do with all my tax info. I just wanted my $$ back, but now Im genuinely stressed here. Any help?

Wasn't sure where to post, sorry....     Need advice on dealing with my current/former tax preparer, and what to do in the future.

1. thought I had a great tax acct who got a great refund last year. This year she ghosted me after paying her! Submit doc's 3/14 and pay deposit. 4/5 get email asking to resubmit(she cant find docs) and do same day. 4/9 says she needs to do an extension, charges me $75 extra, and I pay the 2nd half of my bill. Crickets......  I get busy, figure I'll hear back, but finally email her 5/16(yeah, too long, but my area has an IRS disaster relief allow returns delayed till mid June). I call 5/17, and again today. Nothing, so I post on her FB biz page asking if she's just stealing my money. She emails immediately saying she updated by email mutiple times(lie, I asked where) and says she's working on it. When I call BS and ask why no contact, she vaguely threatens that I now owe IRS 9k and I should let her work if I don't want to pay that. I ask for my money back, and she says no refunds.  Obviously I don't want this person filing my return, I'm already in touch with others. Do I just walk away? Report fraud to my credit card co.? Start leaving terrible reviews everywhere I can to get refunded? Anywhere to report her?

2. How do I find someone legit going forward? My last preparer ghosted after 4/5yrs service(apparently screwed a bunch of people). I see people saying I can pick someone remote, but how do I know this wont just happen again? I don't want to go to a company like h&r block, but none of the indie people have reviews or reputations.  What do I do here?