Prove to a client they are wrong?

Me in 2018 via email:

"To claim auto expenses, you must keep a log of your miles.....whether you claim actual or standard you need to track miles because"....blah blah blah

Her in 2019 via email:

"You wont take my auto expenses because I dont know how many miles I drove? I'm so upset. I really wish someone would have told me last year"...

I told her I sent her an email explaining it last year, but she argues I didnt.

I dont need to be right, and it's an easy $400+ return.

Shes moving forward and recreating a log. No point in showing her that email from last year just to prove that she's wrong.

Or is there?

This comes up from time to time.

What do you do here?

Depends on the client. I might forward the email as a gentle reminder.

Exactly what I was referring to in the thread "Submitting notes generated by tax software to client".

Clients will always say no one told them but if it's in some kind of note or recommendation in the client copy of the tax return?

Just sayin....

Your $400 fee is nothing compared to any litigation that can happen with a flaky client like that. Fire her

When I find myself in a position that I have to cover my A** because of my client's behavior, I know it is time to quit that relationship.

How many clients really look at their tax returns? Very few, because most do not have the slightest bit of understanding even when we try to explain it to them in plainer English.

If it is something I want proof the client read, I will use encrypted e-mail. True, they may just log in, but that is more evidence than a read receipt via Outlook that few people accept, anyway. Things of this nature are absolutely times I use this method of communication. I have also forwarded evidence of me telling them in the past how things needed to be handled. If it is say, a tax memo, I will send it both encrypted e-mail AND USPS First Class. I also make sure the client responds to me, somehow, so I have further proof they READ AND RESPONDED on the subject. Example, I might include a secondary and less important question.

These are practices I adopted after dealing with certain types of clients I no longer have. Now, my clients typically do look in the mirror and see they are usually the problem, or they use it as a learning experience to pay attention to what I ask of them.

I'm always in CMA mode. I should have become a lawyer, too, but it is just in my nature even though I basically never have to do it anymore due to firing PITA clients.

Can't disagree too much with ATSMAN.
Had a client earlier this week argue that I should have completed all their payroll tax returns when my notes say they handled their payroll. Their words: "we dont know what we are doing we need help learning all this and made that very clear in our meeting with you".
They were difficult to get information from and bitched about my return prep fee in May, which I heavily discounted. No good deed goes unpunished.
Happy to tell them goodbye.

Had a client earlier this week argue that I should have completed all their payroll tax returns when my notes say they handled their payroll. Their words: "we dont know what we are doing we need help learning all this and made that very clear in our meeting with you".

I had a similar experience. I was doing the tax returns and a lady office manager in the shop handled all the payroll and 84X filings. Well one year she decided to stop doing that because she left a message for me through my assistant that it was my job now!

Her boss had no idea and did not want to pay for that year job. Promptly fired them after tax season.

When I email recommendations or items that require client action, I also print that email to PDF and file away in the client's Caseware file. It has a time and date stamp on the email and a second one in the margins that denotes the time and date printed to PDF.

In OP's situation, I would attach the email sent previously as a PDF in a new email as a gentle reminder as sjrcpa mentioned.

The problem is that the client does not believe you. She's not saying "oh I must have missed that email, shucks." She's saying "no, you're wrong, you did not send me an email."

That's strike one. If she doesn't apologize after seeing the PDF proof, that's strike two. If she's low realization and/or a pain to deal with, strike three and out the door she goes.

One of my winter projects is going to be implementing a "client grading system" as part of compliance engagements for internal use. Hoping it gives me the data I need to stratify clients. 80% of your problems come from 20% of your clients, or so they say...

Also agree with Cornerstone. I wouldn't put recommendations in a final client copy tax return. No one is reading that...

They were difficult to get information from and bitched about my return prep fee in May, which I heavily discounted. No good deed goes unpunished.

Curious about the specifics here. Did you give a quote or ballpark prior to starting? An hourly rate? Was it reasonable for them to expect a fee close to your undiscounted fee and it's in their personality to nickle-and-dime, or was the final fee unexpectedly high?

I'm always in CMA mode. I should have become a lawyer, too, but it is just in my nature even though I basically never have to do it anymore due to firing PITA clients.

I am very rarely in CMA mode, owing to your "basically never" reason. CMA mode is not a fun way to live. What's even better is when you can sniff out the PITA clients in advance of engaging.

One of my winter projects is going to be implementing a "client grading system" as part of compliance engagements for internal use. Hoping it gives me the data I need to stratify clients. 80% of your problems come from 20% of your clients, or so they say...

Couple of years back I was involved in a litigation. After that I did create a scoring system based on client interaction. I wish I had done that before. Once I find out that a client is not being straight with me or throwing unreasonable excuses, they are done with me. If I can't trust them, it does not matter how much they want to pay me, my services are not available to them.

Some of my professional friends tell me to double my fees etc. but if at the end of he day I am always doing CMA or stressed out, money really does not matter.

One of my clients is going to get fired on Monday if I don't hear from him on some outstanding issues regarding his 2018 extended return. I already left a terse VM last night.

Log books for mileage is a standard line in our engagement letter, although as mentioned above, clients do not read documents very often. I actually compliment them when they do, even if they are taking more time than the normal client.

They were difficult to get information from and bitched about my return prep fee in May, which I heavily discounted. No good deed goes unpunished.

Curious about the specifics here. Did you give a quote or ballpark prior to starting? An hourly rate? Was it reasonable for them to expect a fee close to your undiscounted fee and it's in their personality to nickle-and-dime, or was the final fee unexpectedly high?

The price I charged for my services was lower than what they paid the prior year and I gave them better service (their words, before I sent them my bill). I based my fee on what I thought they could pay and what I thought their ongoing work should cost because they were in a bad spot and I thought they would be decent and appreciative clients.
For comparability purposes, they had some significant COD issues. I felt had a creative and successful strategy to minimize the tax impact and saved them many multiples of what I charged them. I explained this dynamic to them in detail.

Thanks for your response CaptCook.

I'm particularly impressed by the level of empathy you bring to client relationships. You've dropped similar tidbits in the past. I'm sure that goes a long way most of the time.

That's very kind of you to say.
I really appreciate it.