WICHITA, Kan. (KWCH) – In January; The Sedgwick County District Attorney said the Wichita accounting firm and its owners have entered into a consent decree. Following consumer complaints regarding unfiled tax returns.
On Wednesday, a viewer contacted FactFinder with a photo of an IRS officer outside Bookkeeper N Beyond, 10333 E. 21st Street N. Suite 106. The District Attorney's Office said owner Nicole Clem misled customers by failing to file their 2020-21 tax returns on time. .
Mr. Clem denied doing so intentionally and accepted a consent judgment that included a $120,000 civil penalty.
Dr. Rachel Viner owns Family First Chiropractic in Andover. She didn't know much about the finances of her business, so she hired Clem to help, she said. result? She is currently dealing with IRS penalties resulting from her dealings with Clem.
“I saw her once a month, and at that point it was just keeping the books and knowing where I was at the end of the year,” Viner said.
She then hired Clem to do her payroll, but started hearing about other companies having problems with her services.
“I wasn't worried about that. I couldn't understand what someone's problem was because nothing was happening to me,” Binner said.
After about six years, Viner hired another person to handle payroll. That's when she knew for the first time that something was wrong.
“I gave her the packet from Bookkeeper N Beyond and said, 'Here's what I got from all my accounting,' and my 941 wasn't there,” Viner said. Told. “So I wasn't too worried. Until the IRS came to my door on November 2nd, I was like, 'It's there, I just need to find it.'”
Binner said she was told she hadn't filed a 941, an IRS form for employee taxes. She said her money was withdrawn from her own account every two weeks, but Clem was slow to submit it or she never submitted it at all.
Mr. Viner ultimately paid the delinquent tax, but not the penalty.
“The worst part is that you hire someone and then it comes back to you,” she says.
Viner is currently working with the IRS. She hopes the $14,000 fine will be waived. But the hardest part, she said, was that Clem was her friend.
“I don't even know how to explain it,” Binner said. “It was heartbreaking for her to see one of her friends do something like this, not just to me, but to others. And the hardest part. The thing is, I've actually introduced people to her.”
Several other victims have contacted FactFinder to express their dissatisfaction with Clem.
We don't know what the IRS was searching for in Mr. Clem's office.
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