Taxpayers Have the Responsibility to Ensure Accurate Tax Returns

With tax filing season in full swing, taxpayers should be aware of their responsibility for the content of their own tax returns, even if they do not prepare the tax return. A significant portion of taxpayers will hire an accountant or tax preparation service to prepare and file their tax returns. Even when a taxpayer hires another individual to prepare their tax return, it is still the individual taxpayer’s filing responsibility to ensure that all of the information being reported is accurate and correct.

Recently, the Office of the Comptroller of Maryland announced the suspension of their acceptance of tax return from a number of well-known tax preparation services due to questionable information in the services’ tax returns. Individuals who hired these tax preparation services now may have their returns subject to an audit.

If a tax return is audited, the taxpayer is responsible for any additional tax, penalties, and interest. In some cases the taxpayer can even be investigated for criminal matters. Therefore, it is critical for all taxpayers to carefully review all of the information on their tax returns to ensure the information is accurate and correct. Taxpayers should raise any issues that they note in their tax returns directly with the return preparer and ask questions if the taxpayer is not sure of what is being reported.

Longman & Van Grack’s Tax Litigation & Controversy Attorneys regularly represent clients in many different tax matters and tax audit disputes. Robb Longman has assisted many clients through countless tax matters against the IRS and Maryland Comptroller. If you would like to contact Robb or one of our other attorneys, you can reach us at (301) 291-5027.