Ray in Ohio Posted January 31, 2008 Report Share Posted January 31, 2008 This is so much fun. This forenoon I did a tax return for a young girl. She wants her return e-filed and the refund as soon as possible for she is going on vacation tomorrow. I quickly do the return and she comes back to sign and pay my fees. I show her the amounts of her refunds and when she can expect them and she leaves. We talked about her refund amounts and that they weren't very large. She wasn't thrilled with the amounts but wasn't really upset either. So I send the efile right away to try to beat the 11:00 AM deadline. 30 minutes later she is back and wants the return cancelled as her dad advised her to go to her former tax preparer, as she should be getting a bigger refund than what I had told her. I double checked my figures and made sure I hadn't made a mistake and I tried to explain to her how I came up with the refund amount. I could see she was still clueless. She had (3) W2s and 11 dollars in dividends so it wasn't like anything could be prepared differently to get her a bigger refund. She simply didn't have as much withholding as she had in previous years. So my question is, would there have been any way for me to retract the sent file in this situation? I told her I will try to find out. But as of now, the return has been accepted by the IRS. She has taken her W2s to her former preparer and told them to redo her taxes. Being the gentleman that I am, I told her to stop back this afternoon and I will give her the money back for my fee. Even though I know her former preparer will come up with the same numbers. She hasn't showed up yet. Otherwise it's been a great day!!!!! :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rfassett Posted January 31, 2008 Report Share Posted January 31, 2008 WHAT???? Give her her money back? Did you do the work? Would you stand behind your work? Why would you not be expected to be compensated for that? But to answer your question, my understanding is that now she is restricted to filing an amended return. If I were in your shoes, I would have her call her dad from your office (since he seems to be steering the boat) and you explain to him why the refund is lower. Keep in mind, you are not the bad guy here. If she has 3 W-2's there is a large possibilty that some of that money was from part-time employment and some of it may have been low enough to escape the FIT withholding. But the fact of the matter, assuming no refundable credits are involved, she is no worse off. She either got the money in her paycheck, or she gets it back from Uncle Sam. Either way, the sum total will be the same. Don't devalue your skills and expertise by refunding money to clients that whine! Do your job, do it to the best of your ability, and accept proper compensation for your efforts. OK - I will stand down now! Ron Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ajuroff Posted January 31, 2008 Report Share Posted January 31, 2008 I had pretty much the same thing happen two days ago. Client wasn't all that thrilled with his refund. Same situation...young person, 3 different jobs, not much withheld. I e-filed the return through, then 30 minutes later the kid calls and wanted to know if I had sent it through yet because he wanted to go get a second opinion. I told him I had already sent it through, but he was more than welcome to take the copies I gave him to someone to have them check them over. (like Ray said, simple return, I double checked my figures) I told him to call me after he had done that. I haven't heard from him. I did not offer to refund his money. I had one last Saturday too. I had them sign but I didn't efile their return through until they told me to. They called back Sunday and left a message and said they had someone else figure the return (???) and I was right so go ahead and send it. If I made an error, I'd do the amendment for free. But just because someone is not happy with their refund, I will not refund them their money. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Janitor Bob Posted January 31, 2008 Report Share Posted January 31, 2008 I had pretty much the same thing happen two days ago. Client wasn't all that thrilled with his refund. Same situation...young person, 3 different jobs, not much withheld. I e-filed the return through, then 30 minutes later the kid calls and wanted to know if I had sent it through yet because he wanted to go get a second opinion. I told him I had already sent it through, but he was more than welcome to take the copies I gave him to someone to have them check them over. (like Ray said, simple return, I double checked my figures) I told him to call me after he had done that. I haven't heard from him. I did not offer to refund his money. I had one last Saturday too. I had them sign but I didn't efile their return through until they told me to. They called back Sunday and left a message and said they had someone else figure the return (???) and I was right so go ahead and send it. If I made an error, I'd do the amendment for free. But just because someone is not happy with their refund, I will not refund them their money. I agree with you...but it sounds like maybe this e-file was transmitted without approval and without signing the 8879's? Although well-intentioned (trying to get client her refund fast by making deadline) this would still technically be the ERO's mistake. If my assumption of what happened is correct, it is still ERO/preparers's fault for sending whout authorization....So maybe a refund is in order. HOWEVER....If she instructed you to transmit the reviewed return and signed the 8879, then as others have suggested...no refund of fee. To answer your question...No, you cannot retract the transmitted e-file....She will have to amend and mail in the amended return. If her father's choice of preparers is honest, her "revised" return should be the same and you will never hear a complaint (or a thank you) from them. If, somehow, a dishonest preparer amends to increase a refund...then they deserve the audit that they will hopefully receive. In the end you will be proven right. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rfassett Posted January 31, 2008 Report Share Posted January 31, 2008 Good point JB! I made the assumption that she signed the 8879 when she paid the fee. I have a standard policy in my office that we "press the button" at the end of the day (which is usually somtime after 9:00 pm) on all of the 8879's that were signed that day. That gives the client time to look over the returns, if that feel so motivated, before we are put in the position of having to amend returns that otherwise could have been avoided. I think we only get one or two per year that require change (most likely because we did not have all of the info), but this gives the client a level of comfort (at least for my client base) that things are not being done too quickly. It works for us. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ray in Ohio Posted January 31, 2008 Author Report Share Posted January 31, 2008 Jb.... She was here to sign and pay, then left and came back 30 minutes later, during which I transmitted the return. Her dad owns a fairly large business in the area with a decent amount of employees. So (being the sneaky rotten um.. thing that I am) I am hoping with the refund of his daughter's small tax prep fee, and WHEN (not "if") I am proven right, I would gain more than that one fee with the referrals etc. Or maybe that is just wishful thinking too. Besides she still hasn't showed up for her money back yet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Booger Posted January 31, 2008 Report Share Posted January 31, 2008 Jb.... She was here to sign and pay, then left and came back 30 minutes later, during which I transmitted the return. Her dad owns a fairly large business in the area with a decent amount of employees. So (being the sneaky rotten um.. thing that I am) I am hoping with the refund of his daughter's small tax prep fee, and WHEN (not "if") I am proven right, I would gain more than that one fee with the referrals etc. Or maybe that is just wishful thinking too. Besides she still hasn't showed up for her money back yet. How did you like that storm tuesday night? We had VERY strong winds, but I heard that Northern Ohio had it worse. Booger Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Janitor Bob Posted January 31, 2008 Report Share Posted January 31, 2008 How did you like that storm tuesday night? We had VERY strong winds, but I heard that Northern Ohio had it worse. Booger I had a Christmas tree outside by the curb for the city to pick up.....Not sure where it went, but it was gone that morning (and the city did not take it). I was also not thinking that evening and put my garbage out on the curb.....It also blew away....cans and all...looked all up and down the street...did not see any of it. The wind must have taken it all away, so if you are driving out in the country Northeast of Sidney and you come across an old christmas tree and some cans of trash, you know where it came from! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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