We continue from Fridayh.   The facts in Hamadeh v Spaulding  2015 NY Slip Op 30027(U) January 8, 2015  Supreme Courty, New York County Docket Number: 114060/09  Judge: Marcy S. Friedman are relatively simple.  Accountant is asked how taxpayer can lessen his tax liability, a question we assume is regularly asked of CPAs.  He gives wrong advice about moving out of state while still coming to NY to earn money in NY.  His wrong advice is whether one must stay overnight in NY in order to trigger a day here under the 183 day tax rule.  What follows is a scholarly dissection of many issues regarding professional liability.

Second:  How does settlement of the tax liability affect the malpractice case?  “Moreover, the fact that plaintiffs settled the audit for tax years 2005 through 2007 (see “Stipulation for Discontinuance of Proceeding” [NYSCEF Doc. I 07]) does not bar the malpractice claim, as plaintiffs have shown that the settlement was “effectively compelled by the mistakes of counsel.” (See Angeles v Aronsky,  109 AD3d 720, 722 [1st Dept 2013].)

Third:  How to assess damages?   “The court turns to the parties’ claims with respect to damages and, specifically, to defendants’ contentions that certain damages were not proximately caused by Spaulding’s incorrect advice. Citrin claims that it should not be held liable for plaintiffs’ attorney’s fees in connection with the audit because plaintiffs obtained “a less favorable result” than was offered by the NYSDTF prior to their engagement of counsel. (Citrin Memo. In Support of Citrin Motion at 20.) In particular, although the settlement achieved a reduction of the principal amount initially assessed by the Department and the removal of penalties, Citrin contends that the interest assessment arose over the period the audit was contested, thus increasing plaintiffs’ liability by approximately $12,500. (Id.) Plaintiffs do not appear to dispute this contention. However, neither plaintiffs nor defendants submit New York legal authority on whether attorney’s fees in connection with an audit are available as an item of damages for accountant malpractice and, if so, what standards apply – e.g., prevailing party – in awarding such fees. 4 The court therefore cannot determine plaintiffs’ entitlement to attorney’s fees on this record. Assuming arguendo that attorney’s fees may be available, the court rejects Citrin’s further argument that it is not liable for attorney’s fees incurred by plaintiffs in connection with the audit, because the audit would have occurred in any event with respect to the 2005 and 2006 tax years before Spaulding began his employment with Citrin. (Citrin Memo. In Support of Citrin Motion at 19.) Citrin does not make any showing that the attorney’s fees cannot be apportioned, if appropriate, to tax years 2005, 2006, and 2007, individually. (See generally Ravo v Rogatnick, 70 NY2d 305, 310 [successive tortfeasor is ordinarily liable only for the separate injury or aggravation his conduct caused].) ”

Finally:  Is the interest charged by the IRS an element of damages?  “The parties similarly fail to submit reasonably comprehensive authority on whether, or to what extent, the interest to which plaintiffs agreed in the 2012 settlement of the audit is recoverable as an element of damages. Significantly, they fail to submit authority on the impact on plaintiffs’ entitlement to such interest of the facts that plaintiffs did not pay the interest accrued on the NYSDTF’s proposed assessment between the 2009 date of the proposed assessment and the 2012 settlement, and that, insofar as appears from the record, plaintiffs also had not paid the interest to which they agreed in the settlement, as of the date of filing of these motions. Put another way, the parties do not address whether the interest is an element of damages that was proximately caused by defendants’ tax advice. (See generally Penner v Hoffberg Oberfest Burger & Berger, 303 AD2d 249, 249 [I st Dept 2003] [holding that interest is not properly awarded in an accountant malpractice case where the “plaintiffs tax liability was not attributable to an act or omission on [defendant accountant’s] part”]; see also Alpert v Shea Gould Climenko & Casey, 160 AD2d 67, 71-72 [l st Dept 1990].) ”