Leaderboard

Had a lady call and say she hadn't received her refund check - it had been a month since she filed. The problem resolved itself when the check showed up recently (she called and told me so-thank Heavens). But I getting all prepped-up to do battle with IRS, file an affidavit of lost check, hang on the phone for hours, and wrestle with IRS proving it wasn't HER who cashed it; if indeed someone else did (wasn't just lost in the mail). The post office said THEY could not track it. Anyway the taxpayer's naivete and lack of grasp of the enormity of the problem/time involved (six weeks minimum on a form 3911 response alone) blew me away. She arrived at 10 A.M. the first day and I launched an explanation of how IRS (and we) were swamped at the moment, that such things are difficult to track down, that government gives it low-priority, it's a tedious and cumbersome process, and so on and so forth - blah, blah, blah. I wound it up saying "Ma'am, this is going to take a good WHILE!" She replied, "Oh; you mean I should come back after lunch?" Chuckled the rest of the day.

Because I'm getting really tired of opening envelopes. Really? People don't even look at their W2? I wish I were so trusting and simple.

I had one client that not only had everything in original envelopes, they were not necessarily the original envelopes for the contents. Would ignore an envelope that was her personal AmEx bill only to find later that it contained a sales receipt for some biz materials she purchased + her son's report card + an uncashed dividend check. I paid a gal to open her envelopes, sort info, and create a ledger of sorts, and charged client a bookkeeping charge.

I charge more for aggravation. I don't tell them I'm doing it. My time is precious. I hate giving time away for a chore like opening envelopes, or calling for your 1099, or getting you an extension after your return sat here, finished, for six weeks, and you tell me today to get an extension, because you owe. If I want to waste time chatting with you, that's on me. I usually enjoy that part of the job.

I have done It before, and think it would be far better for them to get two than none.

There are no nut shells with taxes. Nuts, yes. Put them to sleep, it's good for them. Welcome to my world, I would say.

I charge by time so opening envelopes, while painful at times, is income producing and gives me a little overview. I do not, however, replace documents inside them. I'm not that nice... probably why I don't get goodies.

I get so sick of opening envelopes that haven't been opened or the ones that have been opened and they still shove the crap back in so I have to take it out again. I throw the stupid envelopes away most of the time. Unfortunately, my mother is one of the worst offenders. She never met an envelope that she didn't like. She puts all of her bills back in the envelopes and keeps them forever.

Worst text ever just now: "Hey, I'm sorry I haven't picked up [the return you did six weeks ago], but it's been crazy busy here. Oh, and I got a letter from IRS..." I just stopped reading. My response: "I'll see you before Friday at five, and I will look at your letter next week sometime." I love it when they tell me how busy they are. Making $800 a month at her thrift store. Something's not adding up there. Either she's not crazy busy or it's not $800.

But commas can save a life: 1) Let's eat, Grandpa! 2) Let's eat Grandpa!

...hear Spock's voice in their head when they click 'Remember' in the print dialog box? No? Just me? I do tend to get punchy this time of year.

I had a client who was quite upset with me one year for throwing away her envelopes. That was her 'filing system'.

Today two clients came by to pick up their tax returns. One brought me a 1098 he forgot to include for the purchase of a new house he forgot to tell me about. The other one brought me a 1099R because she took RMD for the first time. Reprint, reassemble, new payment vouchers...ick.

That is so smart! I need to add that one too! Of course it won't help with the people that don't even open my envelope.

The cover letter to my clients includes the sentence, "Please remove all your documents from envelopes to reduce your mailing costs and save the life of my shredder. I'm up to 90% compliance. I like to train my clients well to make it easy on me.

FAR better than "Welcome to my back yard"...! We love you, @RitaB. Just sayin'...

Add on to the aggravation of having to open the darn envelopes are those clients that give us additional information written as notes on the outside of them! I throw the envelopes away whenever possible. I have one woman with many 1099s from bank int, divs and iras, and she reconciles each one back to her other records with notations on each envelope. I can't throw any of them away, and worse yet is that I have to stuff the docs back into their envelopes after scanning them in. It is such a waste of time!

You don't have any obligation to the lender. You certainly shouldn't sign anything for the lender, nor should you waste your time telling the lender how to do their job. Give the client a 1040X with the Schedule E address correction attached, and an explanation on the 1040X that there is not change to the return other than the address correction on the Schedule E. There is a place on the 1040X just for that sort of explanation. It could be as simple as "This filing reflects no change to tax liabilities. However, upon review we discovered that an incorrect address was shown on the original Schedule E. The attached Schedule E reflects the correct address." The client can furnish the 1040X and corrected Schedule E to the lender if he so chooses. Whether or not the client files the 1040X is irrelevant. Whether or not the lender accepts this is also irrelevant insofar as you are concerned.

I did just have one of my habitual non filers (well, he'd show up every 3 years or so) file for maybe the first time ever before April 15. I told him the IRS computers may explode.

Yes but everyone else they know gets back thousands of dollars and doesn't have to pay taxes and why do they have to pay so much and we should go to a fair tax based on what we buy but the government should send everyone a rebate check monthly to cover what they paid for food and .... Yeah, they don't like my responses this time of year either.

And typed words have no inflection. Inflection can totally change the meaning of a sentence like: I never said he embezzled money from his business. Depending on which word in the sentence you put emphasis, that sentence can have at least 7 different meanings.

Thank you! Yes that's what i though, my client just wanted to hear otherwise!

Reprint fee. $30 or more, depending on how much of a PITA they are. At least, that's what I do.

How many times have you gotten an envelope with a check in it?

I use to have a client that would give me all his mail unopened. Sometimes there would e a certified letter from the IRS that hadn't even been opened. I guess certified mail from the IRS doesn't mean anything.

It was her computer or email that was hacked, and that may have included her email address contact list. The hacker used your name as the sender of the fake email to fool her into opening it or clicking the attachment. Anyone could fake your name, but that doesn't mean that you sent it. If your email was hacked and sent the message, you would see it in your sent folder unless the hacker went back and deleted all of the messages.

If you know it didn't come from you, then just forget it....

I was furious with ATX, but did find this independent board 4/14 I guess. Been here ever since. Thank you Eric and KC for your initiative and Judy for joining their team and ALL of you for sharing.

People are only doing what they see the government doing -------- oh, you had 1-7 years to get ready for the new/changed law and requirements ------ since you are not ready, maybe we should allow an extension to when you have to make the changes/send the information us/clients, etc........ NOW --- if only they would let US print our own money when the budget we have gets extended????????? /s just so you know, US means us not united states or otherwise Also, in keeping with emphasis on a different word//// think /// I did not say you beat your wife /// was always my favorite but the "I never said he embezzled money from his business." from above might be more "political" acceptable these days --- so Thanks.

I'm right on board with this one. Do the same thing and like everyone else, I have the folks that I have told for a few years to increase withholdings or do something relevant to their situation like estimates etc and to no avail they don't follow through. Get all those ugly looks when they have to pay again.

I had one drop their records in our slot before 5 today, and by the time I got out of my office, they were gone. I think it's like the walk of shame.

I had one where the IRS sent a notice to their employer and forced them to have more taxes withheld, after 3 years of owing and needing an installment plan. Icing on the cake? It was my ex's new spouse!

Glad everything went well. Sounds like he will have a good nurse this week, I just hope he's a good patient. You know how us men are good at being patients.

The surgeon said it went well. He shaved and smoothed the detached part, inserted a gas bubble to push the flap back in place, and then used a laser to seal it. Husband must take the week off from work to lay on his left side for a minimum of 40 mins of every hour so that the gas bubble stays in the proper position. It will be healed enough in a week for him to be more upright but still no heavy lifting, flying, or mountain climbing. The gas bubble is eventually absorbed. There are no tacks or sutures and the patch will come off tomorrow. AI and abx drops QID.

Didn't you "file" it for her?

No, it means it's too scary to dare open!

http://obamacarefacts.com/file-taxes-obamacare/ If they received advanced payments, they are required to file. This website explains it very well.

Instructions on 1095A.... "You must complete Form 8962 and file it with your tax return if any amount other than zero is shown in Part III, Column C, of this Form 1095-A (meaning that you received premium assistance through advance credit payments) or if you want to take the premium tax credit. The filing requirement applies whether or not you're otherwise required to file a tax return."

She admits that it did not come from me now. She went back and looked at it and now says that she realized that it was from a fake address.

You've tried the rest, now try the best: Eset Online Scanner

One of the questions I have is I don't know if the land was sold with the timber or just the timber itself. I still think my first approach is to contact the attorney who processed the sale and find out what he knows. I also thought of the company who bought the timber to find out how and what was purchased.

Generally - timber is gravy. And subject to capital gains tax and that usually isn't a bad thing. Unless the purchase contract detailed timber vs. land being purchased - which no one ever thinks to do - then there's not much cost basis there. Or if the taxpayer is in the business of managing growth and cutting of timber, then its more complicated. But in your case, the kids were - well - taking the gravy. The fact that people don't want to pay tax on the sale of timber is one of my pet peeves. Come on- you didn't put a dime into it, and you just collected how many thousands of dollars as a pure gift of nature. And you can't pay tax - let alone only cap gain tax? (I know - grumble, mumble.....)

Oh, and my gal who told me her boss provided health insurance, but she really got the PTC thru the "Marketplace" (I hate calling it that), just texted me, "Will that form change the amount I owe?" Again: Uh...Yes, when IRS sends a letter telling you to file a form, there is generally a change of some kind.

My very anxious man for whom I faxed proof of withholdings on SS to IRS said, "Please let me know the minute they respond." Uh... Ok, I'll do that. I honestly think he thought IRS was gonna dial me right up and say, "Hey, Rita, we got your fax, all is well, how's it going?" Hello? If they couldn't dial up SSA, they're not calling ME back. I was reminded of the Esurance commercial where Beatrice has pictures on her wall and friend says, "That's not how it works. That's not how any of this works."

You can file another extension with payment. As long as it is postmarked by April 18, it will be considered before the due date. Estimate high. The only downside to sending too much with the additional extension is a larger refund. I efile all extensions. If payment is needed, I have the client mail in a second extension form with payment. Extensions without digital acknowledgment are useless, if a question arises.

Got it working this morning.................................thank goodness!! What a kick reading all your responses.

Actually my spidey sense can spot them without seeing the W-2s. Everybody that drops off last week of March - December. Every. One.

I didn't know you could even be required to have road block insurance.

It's the repeaters that get to me after you told them last year to reduce an exemption or two. Or have more kids, they don't like that comment, but I get a kick out of it.

Well not all of them, but it's looking like 2/3. That ain't my usual, other years it's only a very few. This sucks.