I helped a friend prepare her taxes and she gave false information. Am I responsible?

I assisted a friend in preparing her taxes. I was given false information and now I find out that she is being audited and the IRS says that she owes over $9,000 in penalties and taxes. Can I get into any trouble for helping her if I was unpaid and the taxes were filed on taxslayer.com and she signed saying that she completed them herself? Is there any liability for me? Please assist as this is causing a lot of stress. I am just an individual who was trying to help a friend. I trusted her answers.I helped a friend prepare her taxes and she gave false information. Am I responsible?
You have no liability. Her false return and tax owed are her problems alone and you have no legal or ethical responsibility to help her out.





If you are feeling stress it may be because you mistakenly feel you have some responsibility, or your friend may be seeking further ';assistance.'; Tell your friend, if she asks for help, that this is beyond your tax knowledge, and she should seek professional advice.I helped a friend prepare her taxes and she gave false information. Am I responsible?
No. You were not a paid tax preparer. The beauty in paid tax preparers are that they get paid a nice fee, some of which they charge for legal help when they make a mistake. They also make the customer sign that all the information is valid. They know legal ways to get out of resposibility, and cover themselves.





You were NOT a legal tax preparer. If she says you helped her and pointed the finger at you, SHE is still responsible. Not only that but, say she did point the finger at you in the hearing, the fact that she already ADMITTED on the tax form that she completeted them herself says she is a liar.





She would do best to not involve you, it really doesn't look good for HER. And should it? She lied on her taxes (fraud), lied to you, didn't pay you.





You are in the clear completely. On all counts.
The person signing the return is attesting that all information is true and correct; the preparer is only dealing with the information presented and has no way of determining correctness. There is no liablility or responsibility to the preparer; the person who signs the jurat bears total responsibility for the contents. Stay away from H%26amp;R Block; their two week training course for preparers leaves a lot to be desired.
In the situation described, there should be no liability for you. But your ';friend'; sounds unscrupulous enough to try to throw you to the wolves at the IRS. But as unpaid, friend helping friend, you should be OK.



Nope, you aren't liable. Even if you were a paid preparer, you wouldn't be liable if you were given false info and prepared the return with the info you were given.
No, there is no liability for you, since she attested she filed the taxes herself. Don't help her with her taxes again, refer her to a professional.
The only way you could be held liable is if you were a paid tax preparer. Since you did not sign her tax return as a paid tax preparer, there is no way to know who helped her and who did not.
You could only be responsible for what you know. In this case, that was nothing.
no liability for you. next time. have them go to H%26amp;R BLOCK