First SC's of the tax season

[taxguykarl]

The first SC had somehow gotten it in his head that his fee should be refunded because his tax refund did not arrive within three days. For one, the IRS themselves won't claim to have refunds back that quick. He claimed that there was a guarantee (I'm calling Bullshit here--yes SM can be a bit of a ditz, but she knows better than make such a claim; no, I didn't say that out loud). Nonetheless, he persisted and I gave him the GM's contact info as she is quicker to call out SC's. An updated status from the IRS showed that his refund was intercepted for some kind of debt.

The second was more trouble than she was worth. When doing her return she was challenging me all the way; questioning almost every move I made and putting up a major effort to not understand. All for one piss-ant W-2 return and no kids, the process took twice as long as necessary.
It seems her refund was intercepted as wekll. She has been calling almost daily about this matter--sometimes twice in one shift. She keeps making appointments to go over the letter she got and has yet to keep them. She keeps insisting that "they" offer some kind of "income-based payment or forbearance". Needless to say, that depends on who intercepted her refund.

Another insisted that "she" persistently claimed we stay open 'til midnight---not since, I've been working here.

[registerrodeo]

I have done peoples tax returns for them..usually my daughter's friends who are between 18- 22 yrs old and are fairly simple returns, and used to do 4 different friends returns until 2 got married and hubby took over and 2 tried to get me to do some creative math. The first thing I ask anyone who hands me their stack of papers is "Do you have any outstanding judgements/child support? Because those are going to be taken right away"

[MoonCat]

Three days?! HAHAHAHA How cute!!

They told me around 10 days on average for the feds and up to three WEEKS for the state (because NYS is dysfunctional on its good days; don't even ask about the bad ones).

[sirwired]

I really don't understand why so many people (especially those well in 1040-EZ-land) pay somebody to do their taxes. Just about everybody has a smartphone and/or PC these days, which is all you need to file.

There is certainly a role for paid tax preparers. (The year I had five states on my W-2 (four of which were non-resident returns), an ESPP, and stock-option sale, was a PITA. I found three separate bugs in H&R Block at Home that year.) But many of the people engaging the folks manning the cubicle at Wally-World have cookie-cutter taxes that wouldn't even be that hard to do by hand, much less with software. It requires a pocket calculator, a pen, and the ability to read. I fondly remember the days when I was eligible for the 1040-EZ and I could actually file my federal taxes over the phone; there are quite a few folks that can file an EZ (esp. now that it accommodates the EIC.)

[EricKei]

Simple. Few companies go out of business while catering to the lazy ^_^ 'Tis a convenience.

That, and some people are genuinely intimidated by the IRS -- tho, paranoia aside, as long as the work they've done is all above board and they aren't trying to hide anything, there's not that much reason to be.

[Catwoman2965]

I really don't understand why so many people (especially those well in 1040-EZ-land) pay somebody to do their taxes. Just about everybody has a smartphone and/or PC these days, which is all you need to file.

There is certainly a role for paid tax preparers. (The year I had five states on my W-2 (four of which were non-resident returns), an ESPP, and stock-option sale, was a PITA. I found three separate bugs in H&R Block at Home that year.) But many of the people engaging the folks manning the cubicle at Wally-World have cookie-cutter taxes that wouldn't even be that hard to do by hand, much less with software. It requires a pocket calculator, a pen, and the ability to read. I fondly remember the days when I was eligible for the 1040-EZ and I could actually file my federal taxes over the phone; there are quite a few folks that can file an EZ (esp. now that it accommodates the EIC.)

I don't get it either. I've been working for 30+ years, but due to the fact I only have 2 W-2s, don't own a home, or have any investments or anything else tricky to speak of, I do my own as I can still file the EZ form. Federal literally takes me 10 minutes, tops. I do wish you could file with the IRS electronically, like I can with NJ, but not a huge deal. And I'm not buying any tax prep program so I can file them electronically for free. I just mail them in.

[sirwired]

I don't get it either. I've been working for 30+ years, but due to the fact I only have 2 W-2s, don't own a home, or have any investments or anything else tricky to speak of, I do my own as I can still file the EZ form. Federal literally takes me 10 minutes, tops. I do wish you could file with the IRS electronically, like I can with NJ, but not a huge deal. And I'm not buying any tax prep program so I can file them electronically for free. I just mail them in.

Well, in many states, the state taxes are horrible. Here in NC, there is no "EZ" form. The first time I did that one, I did my federal taxes in ten minutes over the phone, but my state taxes took me about four hours to puzzle through THAT mess. I was a dedicated user of TaxCut (now H&R Block) after that. I can't blame an EZ user for eschewing doing taxes by hand in order to avoid such a PITA.

With software, state taxes consist of me selecting my state and hitting "Next" about eight times. (And then dropping it in the mail to avoid the silly $20 state e-file fee.)

[Ophbalance]

Well, in many states, the state taxes are horrible. Here in NC, there is no "EZ" form. The first time I did that one, I did my federal taxes in ten minutes over the phone, but my state taxes took me about four hours to puzzle through THAT mess. I was a dedicated user of TaxCut (now H&R Block) after that. I can't blame an EZ user for eschewing doing taxes by hand in order to avoid such a PITA.

With software, state taxes consist of me selecting my state and hitting "Next" about eight times. (And then dropping it in the mail to avoid the silly $20 state e-file fee.)

Eh, it's easier as of this year due to all the crap they took out of the tax code. It's like a two page form anymore, and almost nothing can be deducted anyway.

[EricKei]

Cat - You can, as long as your AGI is under $60 grand/year

[Catwoman2965]

Cat - You can, as long as your AGI is under $60 grand/year

Yup. Mine isn't. I've tried

[wheeitsmee]

I'm guessing a lot of folks go to those places because some of them front you the return for a fee.

Also, I wonder if the guy who wanted his taxes in 3 days thought that if the return turn around time was really, really quick, maybe they wouldn't have time for the money to be intercepted.

[Argabarga]

I'm going to try and do mine this week, because one of these years, my procastinating will get the better of me and the efile site will be down when I need it at the last second...

My locals just got easier this year as my county finally adopted one universal form, used to be that every township collected and then remitted up the line, now, they have one form, available online and at ANY county office that's easy.

My feds have been thru 1040EZ for years, and now that the forms are printable and online, I don't even need to stop at the post office for booklets

States have been Efile for years through the Treasury dept. website.

Of course, having one employer, no additional income and no deductions makes it possible, I'd have more hassle if I was one of those folks that bothered to keep receipts and such, but, to me it's not worth it for a couple bucks. My locals/states always hit within the "don't bother" $2 off area and I usually end up owing a bit (Like, $180) on my IRS because my employer is usualy a percentage point too little on withholds, but it at least keeps me honest to check the math every year. No big.

[Teysa]

I always do my taxes online. My income is well under the threshold to file for free. Next year's taxes will be fun since Montana has a state income tax and I've never had to deal with that before.

[MoonCat]

Well, I am very grateful for trained tax preparers. My brain pretzels just looking at those forms. "If column A and column B equal less than $XXX, but more than $YYY, subtract column C and add the total from column D; if they equal more than $XXX, but less than $ZZZ, add column D and divide by 2, but only in months that begin with a Z."

That's what the instructions look like to me.

[Flygon_Trainer]

I just do the free version of certain tax software since my taxes are easy enough, just plug and chug. Handles state stuff too, up to a point.