Complaints

• Initial Complaint

  05/10/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  We used Russell financial services to file our 2021 taxes. In mid-January 2022, we gave all of the 2021 tax documents to their firm. We were instructed that our fee would be approximately $250.00 for these services. On April 15, we were notified that our taxes were complete and the cost was $625.00. (Our check #*** was paid to Russell Financial on 4/15/22). Our checks for the Federal and State Income taxes were paid immediately. In 2022, we received a notice from the *** (requesting a small amount due) and made quite a few calls to her, which went unanswered. Now we have received a notice from the *** stating that our information doesn't match what was reported. We feel that after paying Ms. ********************'s exhorbanant fee and paying the *** what Ms. ******************** told ** was owed, there should have been no problems at all. We have never had a problem or any issues with the ***. We had to leave at least 3 calls this time and she did not return our call until we told her that we would be contacting the BBB.

  

  Business response

  05/17/2023

  Hello,  I am **************** Russell , in response to Mr. ******* complaint. He did bring his 2021 tax paperwork to ** in January of 2022.  We explained to *** that the taxes would be done before the deadline, and the basic STARTING FEE is $250 for a simple tax return. **************** had a significantly more in depth tax return including the following: 1040 Individual US Tax Return, W-2 from employment, W-2G gambling income, 3 **** R's from retirement income, ****'s for Dividend and Interest Income, ****B Brokerage account income, Capital Gains, SS Statements for him and his wife, we used Schedule A itemized deductions to remove the gambling income tax liability and to reduce the other income from Capital Gains and dividend and interest income. He failed to make estimated tax payments, as required by law, thereby incurring a substantial underpayment penalty for which we had to calculate Form ****. Our final fee was $625 for the federal and state tax returns and electronic filing of such, which was completely fair.

  **************** called our offices OVER A YEAR LATER on 5/4, and 5/5/23. He left a message for which I returned his call within 48 hours, which is our standard turnaround time. **************** did not answer his phone when I returned the call. I called again 2 days later and he answered. I told him I would be more than happy to look at the *** letter and respond per *** regulation, and at time he said he had his CPA working on it. I reiterated that if he was to bring the letter in I would be happy to help at no cost. That was the last I heard from him until I received the e-mail from BBB with his complaint.

  Our firm will not refund tax preparation fees for work that was completed and electronically filed in a timely manner. We do *** responses on the occasional circumstance when we filed a return and the client neglected to provide us with all their documents that were required for filing.

  Respectfully,

  **************** Russell

   

*Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business. ↩