BBB: Be Careful When Choosing a Tax Preparer

With tax season upon us, it is certainly tempting to hire someone to prepare your tax return. And, in many cases, hiring an expert can save you a lot of time and money.

Since you are legally responsible for your tax return, whether or not it is prepared by someone else, the Better Business Bureau (BBB) of Mississippi offers the following guidelines when selecting a tax preparer:

• Be skeptical of any preparer claiming to be able to get you a larger refund than others. Every legitimate preparer should have fairly similar tax results.
• Beware if the preparer bases tax preparation fees on the percentage of the amount of your refund. This is not allowed under IRS regulations.

“Choose a preparer to whom you will have easy access,” suggests Bill Moak, President/CEO of the BBB Mississippi. “If the firm delegates your work to someone with less training – or to an unknown worker – take your business elsewhere. Also, make sure that the preparer will not be sending your return to a foreign country for processing since the appropriate security and privacy laws may not exist outside of the U.S. This could mean that you may forfeit your recourse rights should your information be compromised out of the country.”

The IRS offers these additional tips:

• Be sure that your preparer signs the return and fills in his appropriate information
• Never sign a blank return
• Never sign a return in pencil

The BBB of Mississippi suggests that you check a preparer’s record with them before you hire anyone. This can be done online at www.ms.bbb.org or by calling the Automated Response Line (800-987-8280)