How to Report a Bad Tax Preparer, Representative, or Tax Relief Company

When a professional burns you, the first instinct is to call them and yell. The second is to post a review. Neither one fixes much. Reporting to the right body creates a record, can trigger an investigation, and sometimes protects the next person.

The tricky part is that there is no single place to report. It depends on what happened and who did it. Here is the map.

First, protect your tax case

Before you report anyone, make sure your own IRS situation is not getting worse while you are angry. Sign in to your IRS online account and check the authorizations on file, your balances, and any notices. Ask for your records back in writing. Revoke the power of attorney if you are ending the relationship. Note any deadlines on IRS notices.

The steps are in switching tax representatives and getting your file back. Then report.

The reporting map

Where to report, by problem

Return preparer complaints: Form 14157

The IRS's page on making a complaint about a tax return preparer lists the kinds of misconduct it wants reported. They include stealing or diverting refunds, claiming false deductions or credits, e-filing from a pay stub rather than a Form W-2, filing without your signature authorization, refusing to give you a copy of your return, refusing to return your records, falsely claiming to be an attorney, CPA, enrolled agent, or registered preparer, charging for services not performed, and failing to remit taxes you paid them to forward.

The IRS asks for specific and credible information and says not to submit AI-generated, unsupported, or purely speculative reports. Have your return and related documents ready. The page walks you through a short set of questions to determine the right form, which for most preparer complaints is Form 14157.

Fixing your account: Form 14157-A

A complaint does not fix your tax account. If your preparer altered your return, misdirected your refund, or filed a Form 1040 series return without your knowledge or consent, the IRS describes a separate process using Form 14157-A to request account changes.

The IRS is clear that this process requires significant evidence: a signed copy of the return as you intended it, the copy your preparer gave you, and evidence tying the preparer to your return if they did not sign it. If you are claiming you did not receive all or part of your refund, the IRS requires an official law enforcement report. Form 14157-A is for individual Form 1040 series filers only, not business accounts.

Practitioner misconduct: the Office of Professional Responsibility

Attorneys, CPAs, enrolled agents, and others who practice before the IRS are bound by Circular 230. The IRS says its Office of Professional Responsibility has exclusive delegated authority over practitioner conduct and discipline, and also has jurisdiction over Annual Filing Season Program participants and appraisers.

Circular 230 violations include things like charging an unconscionable fee (section 10.27), failing to return client records on request (section 10.28), misleading advertising (section 10.30), negotiating a client's government refund check (section 10.31), and misappropriating funds a client gave for paying taxes (section 10.51(a)(8)). Sanctions under section 10.50 include censure, suspension, and disbarment from practice before the IRS.

For attorneys and CPAs, also report to the state licensing body: the state bar for a lawyer, the state board of accountancy for a CPA. Those bodies control the license itself.

Tax relief companies: the FTC and your attorney general

The FTC's consumer advice on tax relief companies directs people to report problems at ReportFraud.ftc.gov. The FTC uses those reports in its investigations, and its past cases against tax relief operations are summarized in the FTC actions chapter.

Your state attorney general's consumer protection office is the other key stop. In 2025, Nevada's attorney general joined the FTC in suing a tax relief operation, which shows that state enforcers pay attention to these businesses too.

How to write a report that gets read

1. Stick to facts: dates, names, amounts, and what was promised versus what was delivered.
2. Attach documents: the contract, receipts, bank statements, emails, texts, and anything you received from the IRS.
3. Name the individual who was supposed to represent you, with any license number you have, not just the company.
4. Say what you want: an investigation, a refund, a correction to your IRS account.
5. Keep a copy of everything you send and note the date.

Reports written this way are easier to act on. Angry adjectives are understandable, but documents do the persuading.

Reporting a lawyer to a state bar

If the professional was an attorney, the state bar where they are licensed handles complaints about the license. Most bars publish a complaint process online. In Florida, the bar's lawyer regulation department oversees discipline, and trust account problems are handled under the rules in Chapter 5 of the Rules Regulating The Florida Bar.

Bar complaints work best when they are specific: what the lawyer agreed to do, what they did or failed to do, what happened to your money, and copies of the engagement letter and correspondence. A bar is not a collection agency, but a documented complaint about mishandled client funds gets attention.

Reporting a CPA

CPAs are licensed by state boards of accountancy, according to the IRS's credentials page. If a CPA mishandled your IRS matter, the state board in the state that issued the license is the licensing authority. Many boards accept complaints online.

Report the Circular 230 side to the IRS Office of Professional Responsibility as well. The two regulators look at different questions: one at the license, the other at the right to practice before the IRS.

Do not let a dispute stall your case

One last point. A dispute with a former representative can take months to resolve. Your IRS case does not wait for it. Get a new, verified representative involved, or handle the next step yourself, while the complaint works its way through. Deadlines on IRS notices keep running regardless of who is at fault for missing them.

Card disputes and your bank

If you paid with a credit or debit card and the firm did not provide what it promised, contact your card issuer promptly about a dispute. Card issuers have their own rules and deadlines, so ask about them. Bring the same documents you would send a regulator: the contract, receipts, and a short timeline of what was promised and what happened.

A card dispute is not a substitute for reporting to a regulator, and a regulator report is not a substitute for a card dispute. They do different jobs.

Expect a slow process

Investigations take time, and agencies often cannot tell you much while one is open. That is normal. File the report, keep your copy, and move on with your tax case. If you learn something new, such as other people with the same experience, you can supplement your report with the additional facts.

What reporting can and cannot do

Reporting creates a record and can lead to discipline, enforcement, or, through the IRS's Form 14157-A process, correction of your account. It does not automatically get your money back, and it will not resolve your underlying tax debt.

So run both tracks: report, and fix the tax problem with someone you have verified. The credential verification chapter helps you choose more carefully the second time.