Non-Paying Clients

[Crank]

I have never been stiffed on a paying customer. Long time customer hit a bit of a rough patch but still has the abiltiy to pay. I efiled the retun as a paid preparer, on good faith and it appears that he wants to "cut a deal".... and im not sure what that means.

But Im a little annoyed that I signed as a "paid" preparer which might not turn out to be true. They should make an option to change to "non-paid preparer" if you dont get paid after the return is filed.

The return is "held at filing center" because it has a Sch A. I wonder if I can cancel it and refile as "non-paid"?

[GeneInAlabama]

I would wait and see what the deal is. It might be barter and something more valuable than what he owes. If you are able to retrieve the return and mark it as a non-paid preparer, then you won't be able to charge anything. A little is better than nothing.

[Crank]

Yep, I agree Gene. I was just thinking out loud about cancelling the return. Who knows maybe we can get a butler after all. lol Thanks

[Mike D]

On the rare occasions during my career I was somewhat successful with the following letter.

Date

Taxpayers Name

Address

RE: Fee for preparation of your 20xx U. S.

Individual Federal Tax Return - $

Taxpayer SSN Spouse SSN

Dear

Pursuant to Section 10.34 of United States Treasury Department Circular Number 230, Title 31, Code of Federal Regulations, I prepared the above referenced Federal tax return in anticipation of payment for my services, and accordingly, signed the return as the PAID PREPARER.

As of this date, I have neither received payment from you nor have I received communication, written or oral, indicating your intent to pay the preparation fee.

I, therefore, will on (some date in reasonable future) notify the Internal Revenue Service of the inaccuracy in the reporting of PAID PREPARER information on the above referenced tax return. Your Attention to this very important matter is hereby requested and your prompt remittance of the ($ amt) is anticipated to be forthcoming.

Sincerely,

CC: U. S. Department of the Treasury,

Internal Revenue Service, Examination Division

DATE TO SEND

Good luck.

Mike Dubin CPA

[Crank]

That's great Mike! Thanks.

[Achmid]

Nothing sacred about E Filing. Paper file non payments, hold until deposit received.

[GeneInAlabama]

>>Nothing sacred about E Filing. Paper file non payments, hold until deposit received.<<

???

[Julie]

I've never held a return for nonpayment. In ten years, very few have not paid. I don't even worry about those few; just mark them in my appt calendar so I won't do next year's until this one is paid for. This is not because I don't need the money but because it's a worthwhile gamble for me to do the return and trust that they will pay me when they get their refund. By and large, they do. This works with my lower-income clientele.

With this situation, I would talk to the client, perhaps offer a payment plan or see if he has a barter arrangement that I would like. If all else fails, I would just ask him to pay when he has the money, and explain the difficulty this causes me. So far, this has always worked.

[Crank]

Thanks for the replies. Still waiting on the client to get back to me. I filed the return and will wait to see how the situation unfolds. I have never been stiffed on a return and I dont think I will be on this one, but it may take a while to reslove.

[Kea]

I'm with Julie. I've only had a handful that didn't pay. I usually reconcile all my invoices with my Quicken log at the end of the year. If there is an outstanding invoice at that time, I include a copy of the invoice in my New Year's card and say I don't have a record of payment (and request payment or let me know if my records are wrong). That usually gets them to pay or keeps them from coming back.

I did get an e-mail from a long-time client last month who apologized for not paying and asked if it was OK to pay last year & this year after they got their refund. They are really scrambling right now to keep from having everything cut off. I agreed. The amount of my payment will not "make or break" me like it will for her family right now. I might not do that for everyone, but I know they have paid a fortune in medical bills for their 5 year old son who has a birth defect that isn't covered by insurance.