I cannot recommend Furin & Co. & I'll explain why. I reached out to them via email to inquire about…read moregetting our taxes done. It was my second year filing jointly with my wife, & we had some property sales, rental income, & more complicated investment portfolios once our lives more or less combined. I wanted to begin to have a professional look at our taxes.
After sending an email, I got a response to fill out a basic client questionnaire. Once that was complete, we were scheduled for a face-to-face meeting the next week. No sort of "fee" or cost was described when setting up this initial meeting, the office administrator, Kelsey, simply said to bring the last 2 years' of tax returns, don't hesitate to ask if we had any questions, and that "We look forward to meeting with you & your wife on Monday." I unfortunately had to work, so my wife went alone to the meeting to give them our basic information. She met with Desha Furin in person, & after a basic introduction, talking about backgrounds, the weather, getting to know one another, etc., my wife submitted all of our documents.
My wife specifically asked the question as to the cost of preparing our taxes, and Desha said that the price usually ranged around $175 for basic preparation. No invoices were provided, no itemized costs or anything of that nature.
We proceeded with Furin's office into the following weeks, & judging by the emails we started to receive, it was obvious that people inside of that office weren't communicating with one another. Specifically, it was communicated at the initial email (& via a follow-up email to Desha, the owner) regarding a condominium we sold. We had used it as our primary residence the 24 mos, & would not need to pay taxes on the sale. My first email stating that was dated March 5th, & I didn't get an email from a representative at Furin again until March 25th, & that email was from another person in the office, "Kristin," who asked if we could provide a HUD statement, as well as our drivers' license numbers, issue & expiration date - all information that had been submitted at our initial meeting.
We emailed Kristin back, & on March 27th, she emailed us & said she had received the HUD statement from Desha. Then Kristin asked for a 1099 form from my Roth IRA. Not required. She then responded & said, "OK thanks Chris. I couldn't tell from the paperwork that I had, that it was from the Roth." I'm not exactly receiving a vibe of confidence from their staff at this point, but we continue.
On March 28th, Kristin emails yet again & says, "The last subject I need information on was the condo. Here are my questions: I can see the condo was sold in February. Did you receive any rental income prior to that in 2018?"
- This was specifically information my wife covered with Desha Furin in their initial meeting.
Kristin continues, "Can I get a copy of your mortgage interest statement for 2018 for the condo and any expenses... cleaning/maintenance/insurance?"
- This was also information that was packaged together & given to Desha at the initial meeting with her. So now I'm answering questions that have already been answered, on my own time at work, when the staff at Furin isn't talking.
- We respond by saying that we had laid all that our for Desha. No itemized maintenance costs prior to selling, and no rental income in 2018. There was rental income in 2017. Noted on our previous tax return. Also all facts communicated to Desha Furin, at our initial meeting.
Kristin writes back on March 28th - "I'm not worried about costs of repairs on the condo, because it was a primary residence for you ...I wanted to make sure that you hadn't received any income & I need to record the mortgage interest paid that was reported on your 1098."
- All of this information was submitted to Desha at our initial meeting. The fact that we hadn't collected rental income in 2018 has been communicated to all parties at least three times at this point.
Fast forward a couple of weeks. We receive our tax return; it's right about where we expect it to be. We get an "invoice" on June 11th. It describes two charges, one for $349 for tax preparation, and another $170 for "professional consultation."
When asked on the phone to help explain the charges, Desha says to my wife, "That's fine if you didn't see the value in our meeting, it's only $170, don't pay it, I'll just write it off..." This was never explained or communicated; this meeting was described by them as a "getting to know your client." My wife said they spent about 45 minutes with personal talk, & about 10 about actual taxes.
On the phone, my wife tried to ask about the charges & Desha was immediately defensive, passive aggressive, & kept talking over my wife saying "Thank you soooooo much for your feedback."
Avoid this firm. Very unprofessional, unorganized, & vague on their "pricing." So, be up front about what you expect to pay, & if you pay to have smalltalk with Desha, expect to pay a premium.
