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Well another tax season has passed and it was truly a long one
.
Friday:
No ma'am we can't file based on a pay slip:
A young lady came in and seriously (or a least with a straight face) asked about filing with that alone. I told her and she was not pleased. I explained that the most that I could do would be to file an extension, which would make her deadline October. She then asked about downloading her W2. My reply, yes that can be done, but not without the code number for the employing organization and the personal identifying number assigned to her. (Side note: You have hoops to jump through even with that info--just ask my niece.) I filled out and addressed her extension.
Saturday:
A couple with an unusually low withholding. They were genuinely surprised that they ended up owing. I grasped all the straws, I could to make that less likely, but there are limits.
As I like to be thorough I asked the next couple about losses from a fire. The Mrs. tore into me about the insurance denying their claim on hypertechnical grounds and losing $50k worth of furnishings and electronics. Her spouse, calmly (and matter of factly), informed me that I struck a nerve (You think!?
). I informed them that they would have another year to file an amended return which reflects those losses--they would need to bring in some documentation.
Another couple whose return I worked a month earlier came in with a question. The wife's sister married a guy with some baggage, specifically a child support debt from an earlier relation. Way to pick them (extreme sarcasm!). Anyway their (the in-laws) refund was (unsurprisingly) intercepted to pay his child support debt--what recourse does she have? I told them about innocent spouse relief and printed out the forms and publications.
The wife's response: "Now that bum will be paying his own debts, ha ha." She then excused herself to the bathroom in back.
I asked the husband "Why do I get the feeling that I just gave Darth Vader his lightsaber?"
He replied, "That's about right."
Sunday:
Nothing for 3 hours and then:
A couple with a home buyer credit. Which has to be printed out and prepped for mailing. Wouldn't you know it: They left the docs behind.
A lady came in with a purse bigger than my carry on bag. Her purse (which was about the size of my carry-on bag) was stuffed with charity and medical receipts. Further complicating matters, she's a nurse and I had to verify whether the Red Cross receipt was a donation or a seminar fee. I spent almost two hours totaling up her stuff. At least she was friendly about it--especially when I got her almost $20k in combined federal and state refunds.
Next was a lady with not much less medical receipts and a new business startup--at least she was prepared.
Needless to say, I got home late that day.
Monday (Tax day):
I had just finished a return for a guy who did not come in prepared. He had to dig for all his work expenses and had to call bank customer service for the routing number.
After Mr. Organized (extreme sarcasm) signed his paperwork and left, I got a call from a lady about her file. She gave her name and SSN. I looked up her file and remembered. She had 8 count them 8 W-2G's, statements of gambling winning.
For those who don't know, US regulations require that form for a payout of over $1200, but withholding is not required--needless to say the IRS does get a copy of this form.
When I worked her return a month and a half earlier, I grilled her about losses against these winnings (she would be owing thousands otherwise). Apparently, she took each batch of winnings and ended up with a net loss of a thousand or more (taking her claims at face value
). She was not satisfied with the amount of her refund (Mrs. TGK & I would be glad not to owe, but that's just us.), so she took her docs and left. In the call, she demanded that we recover her file. She asked about the refund and preparation fee. She screamed, "I HAVE TO PAY YOU HOW MUCH?!!" $X "I GET BACK HOW MUCH?!?!" $2X. Needless to say, she found someone else to do her return. Just as well, I don't need the exposure.
Another tax season come and gone...at long last
.Friday:
No ma'am we can't file based on a pay slip:
A young lady came in and seriously (or a least with a straight face) asked about filing with that alone. I told her and she was not pleased. I explained that the most that I could do would be to file an extension, which would make her deadline October. She then asked about downloading her W2. My reply, yes that can be done, but not without the code number for the employing organization and the personal identifying number assigned to her. (Side note: You have hoops to jump through even with that info--just ask my niece.) I filled out and addressed her extension.
Saturday:
A couple with an unusually low withholding. They were genuinely surprised that they ended up owing. I grasped all the straws, I could to make that less likely, but there are limits.
As I like to be thorough I asked the next couple about losses from a fire. The Mrs. tore into me about the insurance denying their claim on hypertechnical grounds and losing $50k worth of furnishings and electronics. Her spouse, calmly (and matter of factly), informed me that I struck a nerve (You think!?
). I informed them that they would have another year to file an amended return which reflects those losses--they would need to bring in some documentation.Another couple whose return I worked a month earlier came in with a question. The wife's sister married a guy with some baggage, specifically a child support debt from an earlier relation. Way to pick them (extreme sarcasm!). Anyway their (the in-laws) refund was (unsurprisingly) intercepted to pay his child support debt--what recourse does she have? I told them about innocent spouse relief and printed out the forms and publications.
The wife's response: "Now that bum will be paying his own debts, ha ha."
She then excused herself to the bathroom in back. I asked the husband "Why do I get the feeling that I just gave Darth Vader his lightsaber?"
He replied, "That's about right."
Sunday:
Nothing for 3 hours and then:
A couple with a home buyer credit. Which has to be printed out and prepped for mailing. Wouldn't you know it: They left the docs behind.
A lady came in with a purse bigger than my carry on bag. Her purse (which was about the size of my carry-on bag) was stuffed with charity and medical receipts. Further complicating matters, she's a nurse and I had to verify whether the Red Cross receipt was a donation or a seminar fee. I spent almost two hours totaling up her stuff. At least she was friendly about it--especially when I got her almost $20k in combined federal and state refunds.
Next was a lady with not much less medical receipts and a new business startup--at least she was prepared.
Needless to say, I got home late that day.
Monday (Tax day):
I had just finished a return for a guy who did not come in prepared. He had to dig for all his work expenses and had to call bank customer service for the routing number.
After Mr. Organized (extreme sarcasm) signed his paperwork and left, I got a call from a lady about her file. She gave her name and SSN. I looked up her file and remembered. She had 8 count them 8 W-2G's, statements of gambling winning.
For those who don't know, US regulations require that form for a payout of over $1200, but withholding is not required--needless to say the IRS does get a copy of this form.
When I worked her return a month and a half earlier, I grilled her about losses against these winnings (she would be owing thousands otherwise). Apparently, she took each batch of winnings and ended up with a net loss of a thousand or more
(taking her claims at face value). She was not satisfied with the amount of her refund (Mrs. TGK & I would be glad not to owe, but that's just us.), so she took her docs and left. In the call, she demanded that we recover her file. She asked about the refund and preparation fee. She screamed, "I HAVE TO PAY YOU HOW MUCH?!!" $X "I GET BACK HOW MUCH?!?!" $2X. Needless to say, she found someone else to do her return. Just as well, I don't need the exposure.Another tax season come and gone...at long last
The most likely reason he hasn't heard from the IRS already is because they ran numbers that suggest that he did not have a balance due for those years--which means that he pissed away money to which he was entitled. He'll be sporting bracelets, sooner or later if he keeps this up.
). 
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