if my tax preparer makes an error on my taxes and i get audited and have to pay more. who is responsible for payment
2 Answers from Attorneys
You are always responsible for the payment of your tax liability. If the tax preparer was negligent, you may have some claim against the tax preparer. Some tax preparers will undertake to pay any additional tax liability under very, very limited circumstances. Generally, the tax return is prepared from information that you provide to the tax preparer and if that information is incorrect then the fault is yours.
I agree with Norman; adding that the cause may determine the liability. By this, I mean that if the error was inadvertent, such as entering a wrong number or miscalculating, the liability is still yours. However, if the error was due to a deliberate overstatement of deductions or understatement of income, this might be different. Sometimes the added costs, such as penalties and interest are borne by the preparer who caused the error. This is a response to an Internet question and the reply is not intended to be legal advice or as creating an attorney-client relationship.