Rockman v. Bartlett

Flaintiff retained defendants to prepare his 2003 federal and New York State income tax returns. In that regard, plaintiff provided defendants with documentation establishing that in 2003 he incurred a $91,800 loss from the sale of rental property. On the initial tax return prepared by defendants and subsequently filed with the Internal Revenue Service (hereinafter IRS), only $10,851 of the loss was declared for the 2003 tax year because defendants believed that since the loss was the result of a passive investment, it had to be prorated over a period of years. Later, defendants decided that…