I have all of my stuff

[Janitor Bob]

Repeat client stops by (out of breath...apparently, he ran all the way to my house?)....."I have all of my stuff...can I get my taxes done before the deadline?"

"Probably", I told him.....fairly simple return with only a few 1099-Rs, 1099-DIVs, and social security.

As he walk out the door, he says "Oh....except my usual three 1099-DIVs I have every year.....I lost those.....Can you just put in the same amounts as last year?"

[JJStephens]

Twice this year something that someone shared as a sad tale of client inanity happened to me for the first time ever within 24 hours of reading the post.

Hope this one isn't #3!!

People continue to amaze me . . . alas, not always in a positive way!! I still want to tear out my hair when I hear, "Oh, just put me down for the standard charitable deduction."

[GeneInAlabama]

>> "Oh, just put me down for the standard charitable deduction"<<

Just say "OK, that would be zero".

[JJStephens]

That's exactly what I say!!!

[Crackerjack]

I had some new clients about a month ago. I completed the return, quoted my bill, and sent them home with three things to do: find their new baby's social security number, have their landlord sign the rent certificate I filled out, and pay my bill. They've been in 3 times since then bothering my staff with a song and dance about the difficulty of finding the baby's social security number. The clients altered the rent certificate which says right on the top of the form that alterations void the certificate. It took 3 attempts to get a proper rent certificate out of these people. They changed the numbers so I had to change and reprint the tax return. At the interview, I explained their options for paying my fee. Every time they came in, my staff explained their options for paying their bill. Each time, they balked at Fee Collect because they didn't want to pay the $15 charge (which I pass on to my clients). Today they came in to pick up their tax return. They announced they had no money and wanted me to take my bill out of their refund. I had to change the tax return again to input the Fee Collect information and print out the form for them to sign, copy their drivers licenses, la la la. Of course, this was while I was working on someone else's return 3 days before the deadline, and my staff was busy as all get out, phone ringing constantly, etc. As the guy left, he said, "Boy you guys are busy. I hope someone gives you a break this weekend."

My office manager said, "I wonder why he thinks it's someone else's job to give us a break?"