Tax preparers may take documents at face value.
In this triumph for certified public accountants and tax preparers, the Arapahoe County District Court reinforces the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants’ standards of care provides CPAs and tax preparers may rely without further investigation on the information provided to them by their clients.
Mark E. Haynes and Kelley B. Duke, litigation attorneys at Ireland Stapleton Pryor & Pascoe, PC, were victorious earlier this month when they defeated claims of malpractice, negligence and breach of contract against their client, a prominent accounting firm in Denver specializing in audits and tax practice. The client was accused of failing to detect an alleged misappropriation of funds by one partner and communicate that to another partner. The court held it is a best practice for tax preparers of partnership tax returns to take documents provided to them at face value without further investigation and limit communications to a single point of contact, the designated tax matters partner.
Haynes is a litigator focusing primarily on complex commercial matters. In his practice he prosecutes and defends business owners in disputes involving professional negligence, antitrust, breach of contract, partnership disputes and securities litigation.
Duke’s practice focuses on complex commercial litigation. She maintains a full trial docket defending and prosecuting business owners in disputes involving antitrust, breach of contract, breach of fiduciary duty, the protection of intellectual property and trade secrets, residential and commercial real estate, development and water rights disputes, employment law issues and construction defect disputes.