Tax prep mistake/invoice

[Susie]

Since 2018, H and I have used the same accounting firm for our personal taxes that my law firm uses for the firm's tax advising.  Their familiarity with our compensation structure and performance from quarter to quarter makes it easier to plan estimated taxes than if I worked with an outside firm that I need to update on all this.

Unfortunately, when preparing our 2019 personal taxes in spring 2020, someone at the accounting firm made an error that caused our 2019 tax to be miscalculated.  (They attributed a W-2 to the wrong spouse when entering the data from the W-2 I provided, which affected my self employment tax calculation.)  That error was propagated through our estimate planning for 2020, so in December when I worked with our accountant to plan for Q4 payment in January and our expected tax liability with our 2020 return, the numbers were similarly poisoned.  The error was finally discovered in March 2021 when our 2020 tax liability came out way larger than expected, and our accountant looked into why.  

Bottom line, once the error was fixed, our tax due was $15k rather than $5k.  We also have the possibility of $6-7k in old liability for 2019.  The accounting firm will pick up any penalties and interest, but the tax is ours to eat.  Needless to say, I was very unhappy at the news, but I've had time to get over it.  The tax liability is what it is.

Today though, I got their bill in the mail.  Full standard price for prep of 2020 return and 2021 estimate vouchers.  Last year was full price too, but we didn't know about the error yet then.  

They didn't cause the tax liability, and mistakes do happen.  March 2020 was a shitty time for everyone.  But their service did not live up to client expectations, and I feel like a discount on services is in order.  Does that seem like a reasonable ask here?

[cricketwife]

Hell yes, that seems reasonable.

[Deleted]

I am an accountant in private practice now who has worked at 2 different CPA firms. Fuck yes they owe you at least a courtesy discount (IMO 15-20% off return prep and planning fees for the affected years) and they better not have billed you for their time in fixing the error.

[Susie]

Thanks for confirming!

I know I for sure would be giving a client a discount in my field if I screwed up, on top of fixing it to whatever extent is possible at no cost. But I am glad to hear an accountant agree.