Shank M.
1/5
TLDR: Do not use Capital Tax Returns if you do not have a simple tax return.
My partner and I have utilized Shaun’s services at Capital Tax Returns for the past two financial years. Initial impressions from our first year (FY20-21) were fine, Shaun completed our returns on our first visit, all went smoothy.
This year (FY21-22), my partner and I visited the office in Belconnen, and pre-shared all receipts and invoices via a shared drive, expecting a similar process to the previous year. Upon our arrival, Shaun looked at the documentation, asked us a few questions and told us he would complete the returns in his own time. By the 9th of August the returns were complete, approximately 12 days. Granted this year we had additional property and work related expenses, this is all still part of the job.
Once lodged, it took quite some time for the ATO to pick up the return and process it, and finally was told by Shaun that my file was being audited. This is where I started to experience what other reviewers had been saying, with the lack of professionalism and rudeness.
I had missed a call from Shaun as I was in back-to-back work meetings and asked if everything was Ok. He responded with “No, can wait till tomorrow”. I asked if he could email instead, however, he did not email me and just forwarded me a text message from the ATO. The text just said the ATO needed additional information in the forwarded text, I followed up again and asked what additional information they needed; he did not respond.
Eventually there were a few email exchanges, and Shaun demanded I pay the bill (which I gladly paid), however, he still had not responded to my question regarding what information the ATO wanted. I requested this information a few times, and he repeated “we have put in a considerable amount of effort into this”, which is his job after all.
Eventually the exchanges got more heated, and Shaun said “All we want at Capital Tax Returns is happy clients ... and it appears that we may not be able to satisfy your requirements. This may be an opportune time for us to separate paths and you can deal with the ATO directly yourself.” This was during an audit; Shaun’s job was to support the process, however, instead he attempted to terminate services.
Later, the ATO asked for evidence on certain work purchases, which I had already provided to Shaun in a shared drive when we first visited him. It appears he had not provided any of these to the ATO, there were additional requests for information from the ATO and I had asked Shaun to provide some guidance on how to respond to them, and if he wasn’t sure if he could please find out. He did not provide any support in the matter, he never responded to any of my questions and simply said “just do the best you can”.
Upon sifting through the documentation, myself, I realised Shaun had made several mistakes on my return, I asked him for clarification on certain points and how items were put in, he once again did not respond and provided an abrupt, rude, and useless response. I understand that it being my tax return, it is my responsibility to ensure its accuracy, however, at almost $800 for my partner and I, I would have hoped he would have given me the advice, guidance, and support that a tax agent is paid for. Moreover, there were several items that Shaun missed putting in the tax return, which I had to forego as it was too late once the ATO pulled up the file. The way the items were classified in the return made it near impossible to reverse engineer and identify what had been missed.
Put simply, I will NEVER return to see Shaun at Capital Tax Returns, I refuse to pay someone to be rude to me and extremely unhelpful. We paid a premium for tax advice, and our returns to be done accurately, neither of these were a result of visiting Capital Tax Returns.
To sum up, I am convinced if all you have is a simple return, they will be able to sort it out for you. Anything other than that, STAY AWAY!
