I get the impression from time to time (usually when meeting with tax client prospects) that the general (read: uninformed) public has a tendency to rate the competency of tax preparers based on how large or small their refund is. The meeting usually starts something like this:
Prospect: My tax guy last year got me $10,000 back. Can you all do the same thing?
That's when we typically begin to educate the prospect that the return is in fact their responsibility and that our goal in the process is to 1) help them take advantage of tax breaks available to them and to 2) help them comply with all the necessary tax regulations. We cannot control variables that our not made known to us before they happen, such as: how much you are having withheld from your paycheck; whether or not you have taken an early IRA distribution; the fact that you had a dependent roll off of your return from last year; or any of the other thousands of different scenarios that could affect your taxes this year as compared to last year.
Bottom line: there is no correlation between refund amount and tax preparer competency.
Beware of anyone who either guarantees you a certain refund or that charges you based on your refund amount. And as always, interview your preparer to make sure they are a good fit and that they appear ethical.
(If you'd like to talk to someone at DMF about this post, please email us at admin@dmfcpas.com)
