ComplaintsforBarry L Zaiger CPA

• Initial Complaint

  11/09/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Delivery Issues

  Status:

  Unresolved

  More info

  We gave our tax documents to Buzz at the beginning of February. He initially quoted us $300 which we agreed to. In April he told us he needed to file an extension, which was odd because our taxes were pretty straight forward. In September we received a call that they were finally filing our taxes and that now we owed $450 because they needed to file the extension. We were a little put off by this since we had everything to them with plenty of time to not file an extension, but paid the $450 anyways. A couple of weeks later we received a letter from the IRS that an extension was never filed and now we owed a penalty of around $1000 for filing late. We contacted Buzz and he said that because he had turn over with staff that things were missed and that he would write a letter on our behalf. Two months have passed and we have heard nothing and he just sent an email that he would now write a letter. We do not want to be on the hooks with the IRS, but this is quite ridiculous that we are going to end up paying a late fee that we should have never incurred!! AND we had to pay an additional $150 for him to file an extension that he never did.

  Business response

  12/05/2022

  ****** *** ****
  RE:******* ******
  
  First, we do not charge for extensions.  They are free.
  Second, it is true my three secretaries all quit at the same time.
  I hired another secretary who could not work because she was in
  a car wreck.  Finally I hired two more secretaries to file the extensions
  but they did not.
  I am now writing letters to the IRS and Colorado Department of Revenue
  asking them to waive the penalties.  I will pay any penalties that are not
  waived.
  
  Barry L Zaiger
  

  
  

  Customer response

  12/05/2022

  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business, and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me pending that Mr. Zaiger pay us back for the penalty fees that were paid already. We were notified by the IRS on or around November 13th that the request for removal of the penalty fee would not be granted and it was our responsibility to pay the fine. In order to not continue to be charged interest and to not have fees due to the IRS, we paid the fine. The total fine was $876.25. I expect that this will come as a check to our address as soon as possible. I have attached both the IRS bill as well as the receipt for payment. 
  
  Regards,
  
  ******* ******

  Customer response

  01/05/2023

  Hi,
  Part of the resolution of this case was that Buzz (Barry) Zaiger offered to pay the penalty fees that we incurred. I previously included the documents showing the fees and the receipt showing that we had paid them. It has been a month and I haven't received anything. I'm concerned that this has fallen through the cracks and I'm not going to receive the almost $900 that was promised. I no longer feel that this case has been resolved with the lack of response from Buzz. Can you please help?
  *******

  Business response

  02/07/2023

  Clay
  Please let us know if you need anything else.
  Thank you
  Jean
  
  Response to ********* complaint
  First of all we do not charge to file extensions.
  Here is what happened last year. All of my staff quit in January. Maybe because of
  the pandemic. I hired one more person who was in a car wreck on her first day. I hired two more employees after she left. They were a disaster. I just did what I could the rest of tax season.
  Finally because of the Viet Nam draft. People were not going into accounting. They went into engineering instead. That problem caught up with us in 2021. I could not find employees. All the CPA's in Loveland died or quit and the CPA's that were
  still around were not taking new clients.
  I thought we had explained to the new clients that we could do the returns but they would have to be extended. We did not get returns done by April IS.
  
  

  Customer response

  02/07/2023

  Complaint: 18381374
  
  I am rejecting this response because he does not offer to fix the problem that he created. In the first response from Buzz he said that he would be willing to pay the penalties for not filing the extension that he says that he does. I accepted this; however, I never received the money from him. I submitted the receipt for the close to $900 that we paid to the IRS for the lack of Buzz's office to do their job. I'm sorry that the Viet Nam war has left you with fewer CPAs, but I shouldn't have to pay an additional $900 because you couldn't do the job that you said you could. If this can't be resolved through the BBB I am prepared to go to small claims court. 
  
  Regards,
  
  ******* Martin

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