{"id":368890,"date":"2023-02-27T18:18:39","date_gmt":"2023-02-27T23:18:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/content.findlaw-admin.com\/ability-law\/litigation\/filing-a-lawsuit\/can-i-sue-a-tax-preparation-company.html"},"modified":"2026-06-03T15:24:14","modified_gmt":"2026-06-03T20:24:14","slug":"can-i-sue-a-tax-preparation-company","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.findlaw.com\/litigation\/filing-a-lawsuit\/can-i-sue-a-tax-preparation-company.html","title":{"rendered":"Can I Sue a Tax Preparation Company?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<div class=\"wp-container-core-columns-is-layout-9d6595d7 fl-sectionWithSidebar fl-container fl-flex fl-flex-wrap fl-gap30\">\n<div class=\"fl-page-articles fl-section-main fl-section-main-full-width\"><h1 class=\"fl-no-margin-top\">Can I Sue a Tax Preparation Company?<\/h1>\n\n<section class=\"fl-gutenberg-byline\">\n    <div class=\"fl-gutenberg-byline-content\">\n                    By <a href=\"https:\/\/www.findlaw.com\/company\/our-team\/robert-rafii-esq\/\">Robert Rafii, Esq.<\/a> | Legally reviewed by <a\n                href=\"https:\/\/www.findlaw.com\/company\/our-team\/steven-ellison-esq\/\">Steven Ellison, Esq.<\/a>\n                | Last updated\n        <time>\n                            June 03, 2026\n                    <\/time>\n    <\/div>\n\n    \n    <details class=\"fl-gutenberg-byline-toggle fl-gutenberg-byline-legally-reviewed\">\n        <summary>\n            <i class=\"fl-gutenberg-byline-icon\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i>\n            Legally Reviewed\n        <\/summary>\n\n        <div class=\"fl-gutenberg-byline-toggle-content\">\n            <p><em>This article has been written and reviewed for legal accuracy, clarity, and style by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.findlaw.com\/company\/our-team.html\">FindLaw\u2019s team of legal writers and attorneys<\/a> and in accordance with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.findlaw.com\/company\/company-history\/editorial-policy.html\">our editorial standards<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n\n        <\/div>\n    <\/details>\n\n    <details class=\"fl-gutenberg-byline-toggle fl-gutenberg-byline-fast-checked\">\n        <summary>\n            <i class=\"fl-gutenberg-byline-icon\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i>\n            Fact-Checked\n        <\/summary>\n\n        <div class=\"fl-gutenberg-byline-toggle-content\">\n            <p><em>The last updated date refers to the last time this article was reviewed by FindLaw or one of our <a href=\"https:\/\/www.findlaw.com\/company\/our-team\/contributing-authors.html\">contributing authors<\/a>. We make every effort to keep our articles updated. For information regarding a specific legal issue affecting you, please <a href=\"https:\/\/lawyers.findlaw.com\/?fli=bylinelink\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">contact an attorney in your area<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n\n        <\/div>\n    <\/details>\n<\/section>\n\n\n    <div class=\"fl-callout-text article-blockquote\">\n        <p>Common claims against tax preparation companies include errors in filing, hiring unqualified staff, or intentionally misleading you about services or fees. While the IRS may still hold you responsible for tax issues, you can seek compensation through civil court to recover your losses.<\/p>\n\n    <\/div>\n\n\n\n<div><p>You may be able to sue a tax preparation company for negligence, negligent hiring, breach of contract, and fraud.<\/p>\n<p>Your lawsuit may be directly against:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>An individual tax professional<\/li>\n<li>A firm that employs accountants or tax attorneys<\/li>\n<li>A\u00a0company that develops tax software<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>This article specifically focuses on suing tax preparation companies and firms, not people or individual practitioners.<\/p>\n<p>You can consult with a <a href=\"https:\/\/lawyers.findlaw.com\/taxation-law\/?fli=dcta\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">tax lawyer<\/a> or separately, with a <a href=\"https:\/\/lawyers.findlaw.com\/business-commercial-law\/?fli=dcta\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">business and commercial law attorney<\/a>, to determine whether a tax prep company or firm has:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Improperly prepared your taxes (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.findlaw.com\/injury\/accident-injury-law\/negligence-background.html\">negligence<\/a> claims)<\/li>\n<li>Carelessly hired someone who improperly prepared your taxes (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.findlaw.com\/legalblogs\/small-business\/negligent-hiring-and-training-suits\/\">negligent hiring<\/a> claim)<\/li>\n<li>Failed to provide you with the tax prep service you purchased from them (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.findlaw.com\/smallbusiness\/business-contracts-forms\/breach-of-contract-and-lawsuits.html\">breach of contract<\/a> claim)<\/li>\n<li>Intentionally and maliciously provided you with faulty tax prep services (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.findlaw.com\/criminal\/criminal-charges\/fraud.html\">fraud<\/a> claim)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Are Tax Return Errors My Tax Prep Company&#8217;s Fault?<\/h2>\n<p>No, you can&#8217;t shift responsibility to the tax service \u2014 at least when you&#8217;re facing the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.irs.gov\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Internal Revenue Service<\/a> (IRS). The IRS considers your tax return your own liability, even if someone else helped you prepare it.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Taxes are filed with the federal government through the IRS. On the state level, the agency with whom your taxes are filed will be called a Department or Division of Revenue\/Taxation, a Tax Commission or Comptroller, or a Franchise Tax Board.<\/p>\n<p>When you&#8217;re suing your preparer, it&#8217;ll be because of a problem that has arisen out of either or both of your:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Federal tax return<\/li>\n<li>State tax return<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Those problems typically involve an internal revenue code violation and can result in having to pay:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Additional taxes owed (or a smaller tax refund)<\/li>\n<li>A monetary penalty (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.findlaw.com\/tax\/tax-problems-audits\/tax-evasion-penalties-and-other-consequences.html\">tax penalty<\/a>)<\/li>\n<li>Tax credit or tax liability assessment<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>When any of these things happen to you, your first urge will be to pass on the blame. But no matter how strongly you point the finger at your tax prep company, the IRS or your state tax agency will tell you it is irrelevant that the problem wasn&#8217;t directly your fault.<\/p>\n<p>It might help to provide the IRS with supporting documentation to show, for example, that your small business was the victim of a prep company that made careless mistakes during a busy tax season. You can even try to file an <a href=\"https:\/\/www.findlaw.com\/tax\/federal-taxes\/handling-tax-mistakes.html\">amended return<\/a> to correct the problem. But that&#8217;s usually not going to be enough for the IRS to fully forgive any penalties that you might have to pay.<\/p>\n<p>Ultimately, you&#8217;ll have to pay the government first. You can then sue your tax prep company afterward to repair the damage to your bank account.<\/p>\n<p>In this article, when we only mention the IRS, you should still assume the same rationale applies if your tax issues concern your state government&#8217;s tax collection agency. We also use the terms \u201ccompany&#8221; and \u201cfirm&#8221; interchangeably to refer to tax preparation service providers.<\/p>\n<h2>Suing a Tax Preparer for Negligence<\/h2>\n<p>Let&#8217;s say you owe the IRS more than your tax prep software calculated for you. Apparently, it was because the company that programmed the software for you jumbled numbers due to a careless coding error.<\/p>\n<p>You can <a href=\"https:\/\/www.findlaw.com\/injury\/accident-injury-law\/proving-fault-what-is-negligence.html\">sue for negligence<\/a> by showing all the following points:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>The tax prep company owed you a duty of care to properly calculate your taxes because you hired them for that particular service.<\/li>\n<li>The tax prep company breached that duty because they acted carelessly and unreasonably in the way they calculated your taxes using improper program code.<\/li>\n<li>Your taxes were improperly calculated because of the tax prep company&#8217;s carelessness (and not your own oversight).<\/li>\n<li>You suffered resulting financial harm or damage (e.g. IRS penalty).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Suing a Tax Company for Negligent Hiring<\/h2>\n<p>Let&#8217;s say you owe the IRS more than your tax prep company calculated for you. Apparently, the accountant they hired to process your documents was not qualified for the role and the company was too careless to notice it.<\/p>\n<p>You can sue for negligent hiring by showing all the following points:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>As an employer, the tax prep company did not exercise <a href=\"https:\/\/dictionary.findlaw.com\/definition\/reasonable-care.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">reasonable care<\/a> in hiring the drunken accountant as their employee.<\/li>\n<li>The accountant, a clear habitual drunk, was incompetent to handle your taxes.<\/li>\n<li>If the tax prep company had exercised reasonable care, the accountant&#8217;s incompetence would have been apparent to them.<\/li>\n<li>As\u00a0a result of the tax prep company&#8217;s failure to exercise due care in hiring the right person for the accounting position, you, as their customer, suffered harm (IRS penalties).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Suing for Breach of Contract<\/h2>\n<p>Let&#8217;s say you owe the IRS thousands of dollars in late filing penalties because your tax prep company delayed in processing your return despite your timely submission of documents to them.<\/p>\n<p>Your <a href=\"https:\/\/www.findlaw.com\/litigation\/filing-a-lawsuit\/can-i-sue-for-breach-of-contract-.html\">breach of contract<\/a> lawsuit would allege each of the elements below:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>A valid contract for timely tax preparation existed between you and the company.<\/li>\n<li>You held up your side of the deal by paying for the tax prep services and timely providing your documents to the company.<\/li>\n<li>The tax prep company failed to honor their part of the deal by delaying the processing of your return.<\/li>\n<li>You suffered damages (e.g. IRS fines) because of the tax processing delay.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Suing for Tax Return Preparer Fraud<\/h2>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.findlaw.com\/tax\/tax-problems-audits\/tax-evasion-and-fraud.html\">Tax fraud<\/a> doesn&#8217;t just have to mean that a taxpayer purposefully lied to the IRS. What if you were owed a larger refund, and a tax prep company committed tax fraud to lower your refund payment so they could take more of your money? What if they deliberately ripped you off by misrepresenting the amount of their preparation fees?<\/p>\n<p>Scams like this are all too common. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.irs.gov\/tax-professionals\/make-a-complaint-about-a-tax-return-preparer\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">According to the IRS<\/a>, you can file a complaint against tax preparers for:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Filing or changing your tax return documents without your knowledge or permission<\/li>\n<li>Misreporting your filing status, exemptions, dependents, income, or expenses, so that you (or someone in your place) can wrongfully get a larger refund<\/li>\n<li>Failing to enter a correct Preparer Tax Identification Number (PTIN) that identifies the preparer to the IRS<\/li>\n<li>Refusing to give you a copy of your return or using the wrong software to prepare the return in the first place<\/li>\n<li>Falsely pretending to be a lawyer, CPA, enrolled agent, or actuary<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>In these kinds of cases, the elements of a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.findlaw.com\/criminal\/criminal-charges\/fraud-financial-crimes.html\">fraud<\/a> lawsuit are:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Promise:<\/strong> The tax prep company made a statement or promise to you (e.g., to file your taxes right).<\/li>\n<li><strong>Intent:<\/strong> When in fact the promise was false, the company knew it was false, and they lied to you with the intent to deceive you.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Damages:<\/strong> You reasonably relied on their promise in letting them file your taxes for you, and you suffered damages (e.g. IRS penalties) as a result of that reliance.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Legal Remedies: What Can I Recover?<\/h2>\n<p>If you win your lawsuit against a tax preparation company, you may be able to recover:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Contribution and Indemnity:<\/strong> They pay you or help toward paying the amount the IRS charged you. This is usually available if you had a contract with the tax prep company where they promised to make you whole for their mistakes.<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.findlaw.com\/litigation\/legal-system\/what-are-compensatory-damages.html\"><strong>Compensatory Damages<\/strong><\/a><strong>:<\/strong> All the money you lost. Medical bills are less common here, though a court might find it reasonable that someone suffered stress, depression, or a heart attack from all their IRS troubles.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Punitive Damages:<\/strong> Extra money on top of your other damages just to punish the tax prep company for their fraud. This is to make an example out of them if they acted maliciously and intentionally in causing your problems with the IRS.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Contact An Attorney for Help Taking Legal Action Against a Tax Preparer<\/h2>\n<p>Depending on the facts of your case, either a <a href=\"https:\/\/lawyers.findlaw.com\/taxation-law\/?fli=dcta\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">tax lawyer<\/a> or a <a href=\"https:\/\/lawyers.findlaw.com\/business-commercial-law\/?fli=dcta\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">business and commercial law attorney<\/a>\u00a0may be able to help you sue a tax preparation company.<\/p>\n<p>Depending on whether you&#8217;re suing for negligence, breach of contract, or fraud, the applicable <a href=\"https:\/\/www.findlaw.com\/state\/statutes-of-limitations.html\">statute of limitations<\/a> (time limit) to file your case might be different. It&#8217;s important to get the legal process started before this expires, so reach out to an attorney today.<\/p><\/div>\n\n\n<div class=\"was-this-helpful\">\n    <div\n            class=\"was-this-helpful__question-container\"\n            aria-labelledby=\"was-this-helpful__question\"\n            role=\"group\"\n    >\n        <span\n                id=\"was-this-helpful__question\"\n                class=\"was-this-helpful__question fl-text-lg-bold\"\n        >Was this helpful?<\/span>\n        <button\n                class=\"was-this-helpful__button fl-text-sm\"\n                aria-label=\"Yes\"\n                value=\"yes\"\n        >\n            <span class=\"was-this-helpful__button-text fl-text-bold\">Yes<\/span>\n            <i class=\"was-this-helpful__button-icon\">\n                <svg width=\"22\" height=\"22\" viewBox=\"0 0 22 22\" fill=\"none\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\">\n                    <g id=\"thumbs-up\" 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class=\"fl-editors-summary\" data-testid=\"fl-editors-summary\">\n    \n    <div class=\"fl-editors-summary-content\" data-testid=\"fl-editors-summary-content\">\n                    <h2>Can I Solve This on My Own or Do I Need an Attorney?<\/h2>\n                <div class=\"fl-editors-summary-content-main\" data-testid=\"fl-editors-summary-content-main\">\n            \n        <\/div>\n        <ul class=\"fl-list-style-none\">\n                            <li data-testid=\"fl-editors-summary-content-item\">\n                    <i class=\"fa fa-check medium fl-editors-summary-content-item-icon\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i>\n                    You want an attorney to represent you in court or during appeals\n\n                <\/li>\n                            <li data-testid=\"fl-editors-summary-content-item\">\n                    <i class=\"fa fa-check medium fl-editors-summary-content-item-icon\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i>\n                    Complex court cases (such as 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