tax fraud

[thejude]

undefinedgeorgia What is the name of your state?

I hired an accountant to do my 2004 taxes. he, of course, received a percentage of my return. without my knowledge he used some illegal tactics in order to increase my return. He was later arrested for tax fraud for some other unrelated cases. supposedly, his arrest was televised. the IRS fined me $4,000 because he did my taxes and i should have known he was dishonest because it was "on television" and i should have come forward. i never saw the news cast about his arrest and was not aware of his activities. do i have any recourse?

 

[Some Random Guy]

"I hired an accountant to do my 2004 taxes. he, of course, received a percentage of my return."
What do you mean "of course". I never pay my tax preparer a percentage and I would never trust someone who charges that way.

"without my knowledge he used some illegal tactics in order to increase my return."
What were these taxes. Extra deductions? Extra dependents? Slavery reparations? The answer to your question lies in whether the illegal tactics were something that you should have known were wrong.

"IRS fined me $4,000 because he did my taxes and i should have known he was dishonest ..."
Were you fined $4000, or was it more like $3000 in back taxes and $1000 in interest and penalties?

It all depends on the problems with your return. You might be able to get out of paying the penalties if you can show that you could not have reasonably known about the problems, but the back taxes and interest are what you really owe the IRS.

 

[Snipes5]

Take your paperwork to an Enrolled Agent or Tax Attorney, and see what they can do for you.

As Random Guy indicated, one of the FIRST signs of fraud is when a preparer wants a "percentage" of the return as payment. That's completely bogus.

Snipes