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I am retiring from practice, gray hairs and all. I hope I can still drop in and chat with ya all, from time to time. Thirty seven years is long enough I think. Although I will still have to prepare mine,.. going back to pencil....NO SOFTWARE Giving away all my office furniture and equipment to charity today, hope they can use it or sell it. All in all it has been a rewarding career. I may miss it for a time, but I guess all things come to an end. My best wishes to every one of you pro's. Elrod

Thank You..Everybody.... Don't know if I should.............Or,......... But here's to all of you's.........

Eh, when you're in a six year divorce and the other side refuses to proceed to the Halls of Justice, you start Googling.

"Can anyone here say that they've never made a stupid mistake...especially during "the early years"? Perfect line. I bet you no one will stone us because we all make mistake at all levels.

This was posted elsewhere with this caption: "Sometimes you just want to take your teddy bear into the pool and drift away from all your troubles." Yes, yes I would. Warm weather and that chocolate would be nice too.

Well, a client once told me that an HRB preparer here pulled out an EIC table and coached him as to where the "sweet spot" was. He mighta been lying, but I don't know why he would tell me that if it wasn't true. And I think other preparers do that, too. Got a client years ago from a well known CPA here, CPA holds a public office (his day job), does returns on paper and claimed 100% of household utilities as business expense for the wife, who sold Avon. Stored it in a closet. Didn't even complete the Form 8829. I'm sure he didn't have time for that crap. I just want to stone everybody, equal opportunity critic here.

A few thoughts about the "incompetence" at HRBlock: First, a bit about me so you can see where I am coming from. I am a long-time HRB seasonal employee and have been an EA for about 10 years. There is certainly no excuse for such an error mentioned in the original post but I'd like to put it into perspective. I'm sure that many of you on this forum began your tax career at HRB and are well aware that they hire many novice preparers who make errors on what seems to be the simplest return to those of us who are experienced. However, that shouldn't give the whole company a "black eye." Also this year the company is using new software and the EIC questions are exhaustive but it is very easy to omit one and have the software disallow the credit. As serious and senior preparers, we all know that we need to check over what our software does and know what we are looking for. However, a newbie could easily overlook what should be obvious. I agree that the fees are sometimes out of line. However, I read that many of you won't even do returns with EIC because of the threat of fines if "due diligence" isn't shown by preparer. That is certainly one reason EIC returns are more expensive, given the small amount of work involved. Also, there is no such thing as an "advanced refund" at HRB as far as I know. The old RALs went out several years ago. However, clients can choose to pay $35 to have their fees deducted from their refund. That doesn't speed up things; in fact it can slow refunds up as the money needs to go from the IRS to HRB's bank and then to the client's bank or prepaid debit card. Incidentally, for a 1040EZ and state with only W-2 income, my office would charge $90 or $135 if taxpayer has EIC and no children.

5 comments Portland judge sends 4 IRS cheats to prison for ID theft, tax return scam By Bryan Denson | The Oregonian/OregonLive 0 Reddit Four IRS cheats perpetrated what a Portland judge on Tuesday called "a vast fraudulent conspiracy" in which they stole identities and filed 208 phony tax returns in an attempt to make more than $1 million. They made off with $427,896 of that money from the U.S. Treasury Department, turning it into vintage and luxury autos, expensive shoes, diamond rings, and a whole lot of cocktails and meals. "I was very materialistic," 32-year-old Gresham resident Jheraun Dunlap admitted to Senior U.S. District Judge Robert E. Jones before his sentencing. "Materialism can bring the worst out of you." You can't make this stuff up Dunlap and his 27-year-old wife, Brandi McCall, of Gresham – and their co-defendants Ernest Bagsby, 37, and Jermaine Moore, 34 – were forced to turn over assets they accumulated in their crimes. Those assets included a late-model Mercedes-Benz 500 and a 1971 Pontiac Firebird – purchased with clumps of $20 bills. Jones sentenced all four to prison for their roles in the plot, which was undone by agents with the IRS Criminal Investigations Division. Dunlap, who had a bank robbery conviction on his record, got 5 years, 5 months. Bagsby, a convicted heroin dealer, got 4 years, 3 months. Moore got 3 years, 9 months. And McCall got 1 year, 1 day, which with good behavior would put her on the street in about 10 months. Jones allowed McCall to serve her sentence before her husband goes away so that their children will have a parent at home to take care of them. Prosecutors explained the scheme in court records and courtroom hearings: The foursome, aided by two other defendants awaiting sentencing, played roles in stealing the identification of other people. Then they filed fraudulent tax returns with the IRS. "The defendants directed the IRS to deposit the tax refunds onto store-value debit cards and then the proceeds were shared among the participants in the scheme," Acting U.S. Attorney Billy J. Williams announced in joint press release with Acting Assistant Attorney General Caroline D. Ciraolo. IRS agents captured video images of Dunlap, Bagsby, Moore and McCall as they withdrew cash from the debit cards. But the agents captured even more telling evidence from the conspirators' Facebook accounts. One of those images, downloaded from Bagsby's Facebook page, showed what appears to be a tray choked with clumps of folded-over $20 bills and a bottle of Patron tequila. The photo came with a caption: "So I was unable to rubber band up (due) to the fact that it just keeps pouring in ..."

You are so smart! I never saw that form before. Thanks a ton!!!!

Let us know if you get a call from the IRS regarding that form.

Some of the HRB offices are company stores, but many are franchises. And just like ALL preparers, they have all kinds of people running the stores and preparing the returns. I started out working for HRB, at a franchise owned by my mother, a long, long time ago. She sold the franchise and then later went back into business and i am back to working for her. While she owned it, the local franchise was (IMO) very well run and the preparers were excellent. Many of them have gone on to go into business for themselves. I don't have as much experience with HRB now, and I have heard from others in different areas that it is not the company to work for that it used to be, and that they therefore don't attract the same level of employee that they used to. It is still one of the most common places for preparers to get their start. And we all had to start somewhere.

Just a drop in the sea of fraudsters. Until Americans are weaned from "immediate" refunds, this problem will not go away. All attempts and processes to reduce them are only a scratch on the surface of the problem. Americans dependency on the tax refund as a savings account is the source of the problem.

A new client came in this year having not filed his 2013 as well as 2014 return. He quit his former taxperson and I easily see why. He is twice married and divorced with two children each living with their mother. He has been receiving an EIC evidently for some time but, of course, has now run afoul of Form 8867 with no possibility of showing either child as resident with him. He will likely move on when I give him the bad news. When he does I plan on notifying the Service thinking they may flag his return but know of no fraud IRS number. Any of you have any info on this. Personally I am sick and tired of seeing my tax dollars paid out to these thieves.

I didn't mean to insult anyone, and I am sure there are many very competent HR Block employees. However I still think they OVERcharge. In my area they charge more than the most expensive CPA firms do, and in all likelihood the person preparing the return has a fraction of the tax knowledge that the best CPA in the area does. Point $90 to $135 for 1040EZ no children and EIC. What does that come to? about $270 an hour charge to someone with such little income they qualify for the EIC

And maybe a nice frozen margarita, while I am drifting in the pool with my teddy bear in the sun. *sigh*

Congrats on your retirement

http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/f3949a.pdf

I also got my training from HR block (after VITA) and it was excellent. I always refer my PITA clients to HR block because of two things: 1.- They will charge them more than me 2.- They might make a mistake but they will never prepare a fraudulent return as many preparers do in my area. HR has good and knowledgeable people working for them but if your return preparation doesn't cost more than $300, your return will not be prepared by those experienced people.

I'm doing this 20+ years....and although I never worked for HRB....my initial training was there. And it was very good training. Most Block employees are "recent grads"....and recent grads don't know everything....don't know many things. In my first years...I knew just about nothing. Yes...they make mistakes. But, I'd like to point out that they've been in business forever...and are making money. So...although they may be doing some things wrong....they must be doing a lot of things right. Can anyone here say that they've never made a stupid mistake...especially during "the early years"?

Congratulations, Elrod! Please stop by for a chat with us; we will miss you!

Speaking of how bureaucracies work, here is a prime example. It's the old "Sell the Fire Engine" ploy. When townspeople revolt against property taxes, the local politicians start crying that fire or police services will have to be cut. They insist there's absolutely no savings to be found in the bloated budgets for city hall, even though the mayor and half the city council have multiple family members on the payroll. Gotta make it painful for the public in order to get revenge and wear the taxpayers down until they extract more taxes. Same issue here with the IRS. Congress cuts their funding, so there's nothing to do but inconvenience the taxpayers so they will in turn complain to their Senators and Congresspersons. I'm sure there is absolutely nowhere else the IRS could save any money other than their front-facing segment. Put 'em on hold and make them wait, or just don't answer the phone at all. But it's full steam ahead on bonuses, union activities, and other "essential" expenditures. I'm looking forward to seeing what comes out of the hearings, although I'm sure that game is rigged as well. http://www.weeklystandard.com/blogs/report-irs-deliberately-cut-its-own-customer-service-budget_927141.html

You can certainly stay on the board, at least now and then. We will miss you if you don't.

Washington, D.C. (April 22, 2015) By Michael Cohn The American Institute of CPAs recommended to the Internal Revenue Service that the de minimis safe harbor threshold amount under the tangible property regulations for small business taxpayers without an applicable financial statement be increased from $500 to $2,500. “The AICPA believes the requirement that a taxpayer have an AFS to use the $5,000 de minimis threshold unfairly discriminates against smaller taxpayers, and recommends an alternative test to allow such taxpayers to use the de minimis rule,” AICPA Tax Executive Committee chair Troy K. Lewis wrote in a letter Tuesday to the IRS. The AICPA recommended that the Treasury Department expand the definition of an approved applicable financial statement, or AFS, to include a reviewed set of financial statements, which are in accordance with Statements on Standards for Accounting and Review Services and provide reasonable assurance that there are no material modifications that have been made or should be made for them to be in conformity with the applicable financial reporting framework. Lewis explained that outside third parties, such as banks and creditors, often rely on reviewed financial statements to provide them comfort in the financial statements of a company. “We also recommend adjusting the threshold amount on an annual basis for inflation to maintain the fairness and incentive of the intended benefit, and to expand the AFS definition to allow more taxpayers to benefit from the higher $5,000 threshold,” Lewis wrote.

Kudos to the advertising agency that handles H&R.

I retired before this tax season, but still do my return & two daughters'. TaxAct is the program I use--it only costs $9.99. Better than pencil & paper

I vote for the partying!

I have a couple of clients who filed and were accepted in February and still have not received their returns. The IRS site says that they are still being processed. I called the Practitioners line this AM and after much hemming and hawing and sitting on hold, I got the exact same message from them. "The returns are still being processed!" No rhyme! No reason! Take it or leave it. How do I explain that to clients who are checking "Where's my refund?" daily. I understand that they have to learn to wait, BUT, for two and one half months; and no answers. I fear the IRS system is badly broken. One of these is a lady who will turn 94 in May and has been filing virtually the same return with a few ups and downs, for many years. Don't they get that someone who is 94 might still have to file a tax return and get a refund? I am thoroughly disillusioned today!

They have to make sure the BILLIONS all get distributed.

Congratulations! This was my 36th year. I wish that I was close to retirement, but I'm afraid that the only way that I will get to retire is when I'm in a box.

Congratulations on a long and rewarding career. I hope you enjoy retirement because you've earned it. Your posts always lighted my day, so please do visit here from time to time.

I usually just use a write-up program to post checks if a client is manual or transfer their QB info into to generate a T/B. I don't use a clients QB for a final product if I am doing a compilation or something, plus ATX write up can produce a pretty good Financial Statement. I would also not want to use QB if a client is manual, that would be too time consuming to enter detail that is not needed for my records. i don't need vendor or client info that is what they have the checks for. Does Drake write-up have the ability to produce Financial Statements? On another note I loaded the Drake 2014 software today. The server and workstation seem to work pretty good, basically all you want is to have all the files in one place, and this seems to do it. The tax entry and views seem kind of strange but it is quick. So the steps to view the return don't really matter. It will just take some time to get used to, but hey its half the price right. Drake is $1,095 for everything, Tax, Write-up, depreciation and payroll. ATX cost me around 2K for the same stuff. I think this is a no brainer.Just waiting for the rep to call me.

I DO proofread mine. Make a couple of corrections. Try to make a third correction, and it's too late. That's why I posted back-to-back up there. Haha.

  Learning to navigate a bureaucracy is one of the most important things you'll do in college.  You'll use that skill for the rest of your life.   I mean, you're tax prepares, it pretty much defines your profession!

If the initial contact was by phone, it was definitely a scam. In the past month, I've been contacted by two scammers by phone. I also learned that three of my clients had received calls which they did not return, and one elderly couple this week had visited their bank after receiving a call. Luckily, the banker told them to speak with me before taking any action.

They didn't have enough withheld, did they? Well, that's the stupid employer's crystal ball's fault, not yours.

Glad they think your're a wizard. This year I had a couple of clients tell me they think I'm a tax gargoyle.

And the ADDED ADDED bonus is that the gross income is on a W-2. How many self-employed people report gross income? Just us. I'm telling you, they need to lighten up on employers, and they would ultimately collect a lot more revenue. Everybody would be happy, cause all my clients think withholding is a fringe benefit of the employer. They have no clue it's their money. I swear, when they ask how they can get a bigger refund, and I say "have more withheld," they think I'm a tax wizard.

I agree, John. It is defiantly the withholding that drives the desire of the IRS to insist on classifying as many as possible as 'employees'. With an added bonus for them that 2106 deductions are treated much worse than Sch C expenses, if they are even able to itemize at all.