Independent business notice from City of LA
My wife and I got married October last year. We filed jointly for 2025, I prepared our taxes as I’ve done for myself since I got my first job. We both have w-2 no independent businesses.
From 2019-2024, my wife went to her family tax guy - very shady. Every year, this man filed a section C on her taxes (no 1099) and falsified an independent business - “Marketing”. My wife is financially illiterate hence she went with her family tax guy. She did not review the taxes, he would ask her questions and she would answer. My wife has now received a final notice mail from the city of LA to pay fees on her independent business and she just found out what the tax guy has been filing for her all these years. He’s a ghost tax prepaper, cash only, in person, and has filed all her taxes as “self preparer”.
I know all this is a mess. I really don’t know where to start and it’s killing my head. Should she go to the city office and tell them they were falsified? Should we seek a tax specialist or attorney for further advice? Should we immediately start the amending process? We don’t make much, and I know all these penalties fees are going to hurt us like hell. We are also going to report the tax guy, but the fact that the filings were labeled as “self prepared” nothing looks promising.