Slow work by E. A.

[Investor]

The key question here is, when did you get him/her the final pieces of information for the return? Another important factor is whether there will be penalties for underpayment of tax (not likely if you usually get a refund).

My views on this are two-fold (from experience):

1. There is nothing worse, as a tax preparer, than the guy who hands you a shoebox on April 10 and then wonders why his return is not complete by the 15th.

2. As a corporate client, I am in the process of shopping for a new CPA firm. There have been repeated quality issues, but the the staw that broke the camel's back was that I handed over a complete and accurate set of financial statements in the second week of January, along with worksheets showing exactly what goes on the tax return (the CPA's function is mostly just review in our case) and it was a mad frenzy to get a signed tax return out by the deadline - and we missed the deadline I set for the CPA, which was based on bank requests for information for our line of credit.

So, to answer your question, take a hard look at the reasonableness of your expectation about a timely return. If you feel you are being reasonable, but the preparer is not turning it around in time, I doubt you will receive any sort of "penalty" from the preparer in terms of a discount, but it might be time to look for someone different (you do not want a preparer who is too overwhelmed with work to give you good service - the effects of that will be seen in the quality of the work, as well as the timing).

My two cents.

[Red Cedar PM]

I answer his questions in a personal meeting, he crunches the numbers--he doesn' touch receipts. Same every year: He had the usual 3-4 weeks minimum.
He's very good, I'm fairly sure, but I think he is distracted by a coming temporary move to Alaska to pad his retirement, which is fine. But, like you said, it might be time to look for a new one. What about Turbotax? The fuel credits, and depreciation of my farm are parts I don't understand, besides the split-state thing (wife's pension from CA, farm income from HI). I'd sure like the $500 I pay him!
One other wrinkle: Next year I'll have a $159,000 hit from sale of producing farm land. Cost basis $5600 an acre on 10.6 acres at $15,000/acre. What's the tax? 15% on the difference?
And does the gov't rebate check only come after filing?

As far as the question on the rebate, see the schedule at http://www.irs.gov/irs/article/0,,id=180250,00.html

It looks like if you are filing an extension it will be another two weeks after the date listed on the schedule, or the time which you eventually file, whichever is later.

I would recommend against Turbo Tax in your case. I have had several friends of mine who are pretty tech savvy and are smart people, but when it comes time for Turbo Tax to calculate different states or claim depreciation, things often get screwed up. I think $500 is a pretty good deal for a return like yours, as long as the guy is doing it right. However, I would definitely tell him that you aren't satisfied with the return not being completed within your expected timeframe. If you don't like his answer, I would ask for a referral from your banker, attorney, or other business contacts.

Investor - good luck in your search. Your CPA not meeting that deadline is definitely inexcusable. I wish I had clients that were giving me things in January. Many of them have to give us information only a few days before their deadline, but usually we can make it work as long as we know about it and can plan ahead. A good portion of the work can be done without the numbers as long as your CPA is communicating with you throughout the year and knows what to expect.

[Investor]

Investor - good luck in your search. Your CPA not meeting that deadline is definitely inexcusable. I wish I had clients that were giving me things in January. Many of them have to give us information only a few days before their deadline, but usually we can make it work as long as we know about it and can plan ahead. A good portion of the work can be done without the numbers as long as your CPA is communicating with you throughout the year and knows what to expect.

Based on some of the posts I've read of yours, Red Cedar, I would guess you are quite familiar with the firm we use now (I think I have an idea of your geographic location). The company I am with has been with the same firm for probably 30+ years. I have always considered the firm to be pretty good (my dealings with them being as an attorney with common clients). I now see them as an organization with too many irons in the fire to give private companies a very high level of service in the accounting/tax arena. Whenever I raise issues of quality (like when I immediately amended several year's returns to get refunds when I first got here), I am told that they have as much expertise as anyone in the business. I don't doubt this to be true - those experts just aren't working on my stuff (yet I'm paying as if they are). Frustration has brought me to the end of my rope. Thankfully, my past endeavors have given me many contacts with CPA's for whom I have a great deal of respect. I doubt we will have any problems replacing our current firm, receiving better service, and paying lower bills.