Client Reviews of Vicki Scharschmidt

My husband and I met with Vicki in 2014 to discuss our tax return. Vicki was very adamant that one of our 1099 forms listed a code that, if correct, would cost us an additional $1800.00 in tax. She was sure that the code was incorrect and advised us to call the investment company and request a corrected 1099 form, she said this would save us from paying extra tax. I did call the investment Co. and was told by several different advisors that the code was correct so I emailed Vicki this information. When we went to pick up our return we were shocked to find out that we had to pay in over $3200.00. It was only a few days before April 15th so we had no choice but to pay the money. Shortly after that I called my investment company again, discussing the code, and was encouraged to get a second opinion, again stressing that Vicki did not have a correct understanding of that code. I took the return to a tax firm that I had dealt with for 30 years, changing only due to marriage. My husband wanted to stay with Vicki, as she was a relative, so I reluctantly agreed. The 2nd firm checked the return and found several mistakes, again, one being her misunderstanding of the code on the 1099. I had them correct the return and not only did we get back the $3200.00 we paid in but an additional amount as well. We brought this to Vicki's attention by dropping off the amended return at her office. Vicki then proceeded to send us a very unprofessional letter refusing to return the $200.00 she charged us to pay in money we didn't owe, Her reason..... she wanted us to bring the tax return back to her to be amended which would have accomplished nothing since she didn't realize what she had done wrong until she saw the amended return done by this other company. My husband followed up with several phone calls, one in which Vicki did admit her mistake but still refused to issue a refund. It may be months before we receive our money back from federal and state, all of which I had to put on a credit card and have started to pay interest on.. Had I taken this money out of my IRA we would have had to pay hundreds on dollars in taxes, so I felt that the credit card was the lesser of two evils. Vicki does not guarantee her work and it cost us paying a 2nd accountants to rectify the matter. She was rude in the handling of her response to our amendment, I would have expected an apology right off the bat.... along with a refund, neither of which was offered in the letter she wrote to us. She is the professional, she should behave like one. Jan Warnke