Client Reviews of Eric H. Arima, CPA, EA

I contacted Eric back in February 2017. I usually do my file my taxes on Turbo Tax online but this year i wanted to file a W7 for a dependent living in another country. I went online and found that i needed a licensed accountant or tax preparer to file for me so i looked for one. Eric came recommended by my siblings. He has filed their personal taxes in the past. I drove 30 min to Valencia to meet with him and explained my situation. I specifically expressed that i was looking for someone to help me file my taxes this year because i wanted them to be filed in conjunction with a W7 and i understood i could not file that alone. Eric asked me to get the personal documents of my relative and dependent. I had them fedex-ed from Mexico to submit them to Eric quickly. Eric told me, we will file and try to get the dependent approved on this years tax return and if the process is not completed by the time your taxes are due then we will apply for a credit after the fact. Years prior i had had another tax preparer file a W7 for other dependents and so Eric requested to see the filing for the year when i filed the previous W7. I no longer had the paperwork for the year i filed the previous w7's so i told Eric we would have to file without them. In May, after i paid my taxes i reached out to Eric and asked how the filing for the W7 was coming along. He never took my calls but instead i had to speak to his assistant. She said she would get back to me only to send me an email telling me we would have to refile because it was never done and i was not billed for it. I paid Eric close to $500 to file my taxes and he didn't even file the W7. I replied to the assistants email with a screenshot of the emails where Eric had requested my relatives personal information to file. On March 30th he wrote, "We got your W-7. Eric said we will input Ludivina as your dependent in 2016 tax return, and mark as she is applying for an EIN/Tax ID. If your tax return is rejected, we will try manual filing." Now it is June and Eric's assistant tells me that Eric does not file W-7's and that that is why he never billed me for it. Still Eric never spoke to me.