You can pay someone to prepare your taxes, but you can’t pay someone to take your responsibility. That truth stings when the Internal Revenue Service starts asking questions and you realize the person who filed your return doesn’t sit in the hot seat—you do. The IRS does not care who typed in the numbers, who clicked submit, or who promised you a bigger refund than your neighbor. When your name sits at the top of that return, the government expects you to stand behind every line.
Plenty of people assume that hiring a professional shifts the burden. It feels logical. You trust an expert. You sign where they tell you. You move on with your life. Then a notice arrives, and suddenly you learn that the IRS sees things very differently.
