Tax Malpractice Damages - Return to Fundamentals - Another Court Gets it Right

Abstract

The article focuses on Bloostein v. Morrison Cohen LLP, 2019 N.Y. Slip Op. 50199(U) (Sup. Ct. N.Y. Co. Feb. 2019)(Westlaw), which held that additional taxes caused by a tax advisor’s negligence may be recoverable under New York law. While this holding seems unexceptionable under traditional New York tort law, it is important because several cases decided between 2007 and 2014 held such additional taxes were not recoverable. These other cases, rather inexplicably, relied on precedent decided under the fraud measure of damages. Hopefully, Bloostein, has properly reset the focus in this area.