Taxes

[The Real BigGuy]

I did my federal taxes a couple of weeks ago using the H&R Block software. Showed I didn’t owe anything and wasn’t getting a refund so I submitted the return electronically. I didn’t submit my state taxes because it said I owed $. Yesterday I got a federal check $450 that said it was for 2019 taxes. NICE surprise!!!!

Now I’m worrying & wondering if the software messed up and I’m going to owe the state more or if the feds will be looking for the money back! Oh my, oh my. Don’t I already have enough to worry about?


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[8gv]

Last year my daughter called all in a panic because the online tax calculation said she owed the feds $3,400.

I told her to get a second opinion.

On the second go of it with another company it was discovered that a question was not asked and therefore not answered.

That error made the difference.

A $450 surprise check in the mail might sit on my desk for a while.

[joey2665]

Originally Posted by The Real BigGuy

I did my federal taxes a couple of weeks ago using the H&R Block software. Showed I didn’t owe anything and wasn’t getting a refund so I submitted the return electronically. I didn’t submit my state taxes because it said I owed $. Yesterday I got a federal check $450 that said it was for 2019 taxes. NICE surprise!!!!

Now I’m worrying & wondering if the software messed up and I’m going to owe the state more or if the feds will be looking for the money back! Oh my, oh my. Don’t I already have enough to worry about?


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When this happens the check shows up first a few days after receipt of the check you will receive a notice of explanation of the reason for the change. Change could be for many reasons most likely a credit you are eligible for was missed.

Use a professional next time many of these “free” software programs make many omissions and mistakes.

Just an opinion from a professional


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[The Real BigGuy]

Second time I did my taxes after we were married I went to a professional, a CPA. It cost me $250 + I had do do more work to get all my info together + I kept getting calls for additional info. In the end my taxes owed were over $1,000 more the the previous with no appreciable change in income. So, it cost me 1250+ more and it took more work and time than if I did it myself. Since then I spend the 35/yr and do it myself. This is the first year in 43 with any surprises. I can’t think of a good reason to change unless. They come back and say, “Oops, we made a mistake, YOU owe us $450”


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[Susie Cougar]

When my daughter and her husband were first married he had a friend who had a friend who graduated from the Wharton School of business. This friend said that everyone he knew used this guy to do their taxes because he always got them huge refunds.

They were married in 2005, to give you a timeframe, and probably my best guess they would’ve been making about $100,000 a year combined. My daughter had over $50,000 in student loans and of course money is always tight when you’re first married.They bought a house too , right at the beginning of the recession. These were their only write offs.
So, when my son in law heard of this really smart guy from UPenn, he gladly gave him $500 to do their taxes that year.

They were thrilled beyond belief when they got back an over $10,000 refund. My husband immediately knew that something was wrong, but they just kept saying, no this guy knew all the tricks, he was just so smart he knew how to get every little deduction and everybody used him.

My husband asked to see their tax returns to see what was on there that would’ve caused such a huge refund. I don’t remember what the amount of money was, but there was a huge donation to a charity. The kids spent the next 10 years hoping that they wouldn’t be audited. They never used anyone again after that.

[TiltonBB]

For many years I used an accountant north of Boston. He charged about $1,800 per year. One year he objected to the way I wanted to report a property sale (Ordinary income VS capital gains) so I moved on.

For the next 5 years I went to an accountant in Boston and he also charged $1,800. That is because when you give the accountant two years of previous tax returns he could see what that last account charged you. Every year in April, I had to go to Boston and go over the numbers and fine tune any deductions. Between the trip and the meeting it usually took most of a day.

Eight years ago a Florida neighbor referred me to his accountant. I gave him the information along with two years of tax returns. He called me a week later said he found some errors from the previous year and could file an amendment that would get me $7.500 back. Sure, that works! Then he completed my current year tax returns for $500. He has been my accountant ever since.

The software the accountants buy is the key. It has all the current laws and rules in it so it is mostly a matter of plugging in new numbers. Unless you have something unusual, if your situation, property, regular deductions Etc. are all set up in his system it doesn't take them long at all. I think many of them bill like a lawyer!

[joey2665]

Originally Posted by TiltonBB

The software the accountants buy is the key. It has all the current laws and rules in it so it is mostly a matter of plugging in new numbers. Unless you have something unusual, if your situation, property, regular deductions Etc. are all set up in his system it doesn't take them long at all. I think many of them bill like a lawyer!

Professional tax software must be purchased every tax year as forms change every year and even if there are not large changes in a particular year there are always some changes. Also your preparer cannot e file a current return with prior years software.

That being said so software is better than others as some cannot handle every type of return. I prefer Lacerte which was purchased by intuit many years ago and have been using it since 1988. This year it will cost me about 15,000.00.

I’ve been reading these posts and it amazes me what some people say preparers are charging. Just as a reference a basic taxpayer spouse children and own a home should start at no more than 200-300 dollars. As other forms and more complicated transactions are added the fee will go up.



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[TiltonBB]

Originally Posted by joey2665

Professional tax software must be purchased every tax year as forms change every year and even if there are not large changes in a particular year there are always some changes. Also your preparer cannot e file a current return with prior years software.

That being said so software is better than others as some cannot handle every type of return. I prefer Lacerte which was purchased by intuit many years ago and have been using it since 1988. This year it will cost me about 15,000.00.

I’ve been reading these posts and it amazes me what some people say preparers are charging. Just as a reference a basic taxpayer spouse children and own a home should start at no more than 200-300 dollars. As other forms and more complicated transactions are added the fee will go up.



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I am surprised that you have the time to do anyone's taxes. It seems like you are on this site posting 24/7.

[jeffk]

Decades ago, I moved and bought a house. My wife had been working and changed jobs and there were special deductions you could take. There were a lot of moving parts so I decided to to a CPA ti make sure we did everything right and got all the deductions we were entitled to. It the first meeting, I started to mention all the deductions I had questions about. The CPA was firmly telling me I couldn't take those deductions. I went back home and double checked and still thought I could and told the CPA that. A few days later I was told the senior guy told the CPA I was right. The CPA found nothing beyond what I already knew about. Basically, I was able to do the job for myself as well as they could. I never paid for a accountant again.

I have been using H&R Block for a long time now and it has worked quite well. I especially like that it can download from TDAmeritrade so I don't have to enter than information manually. There is less chance for manual entry errors.

That said, the results are only as good as the information you provide. They ask about everything possible but it would be easy to miss something. The software is excellent in placing the data in the right places and certifying the math. They also do an audit check to prevent doing things that might attract IRS scrutiny, usually some stupid thing that the IRS doesn't like, like large charitable deductions. Everything is cool if you have the paperwork to back it up. One thing you have to watch out for is certain forms that are delivered later than most others. This year, I received one form at the end of February and another updated form at the beginning of March. If you file too early, your forms don't match the final form the IRS has gotten.

One nice aspect is that it carries over things like W2s received, interest payees, etc. from last year without the dollar values. It requires much less data entry, just the new numbers.

Another plus is that all the federal entries are transferred to the NH Dividends & Interest Tax forms.

Taxes got a lot simpler when the standard deduction got larger last year. It is no longer worthwhile to track and enter my mortgage or property tax or charitable deductions. The standard deduction more than covers it.

Years ago, I got a bigger refund than expected. The government gave me a bigger deduction than I expected for a transaction because I didn't claim something that was reported to the IRS. I think it was buried in a house purchase transaction. The rules for those things are always changing and I didn't realize it was now deductible. I had a similar transaction a couple years prior and it wasn't deductible. Nice surprise.

[joey2665]

Originally Posted by TiltonBB

I am surprised that you have the time to do anyone's taxes. It seems like you are on this site posting 24/7.

Wow thanks for the sarcasm.

First of all things have slowed done here in NY with the stay in place also especially since the due date has been changed and this is the first time posting since I think Wednesday. Not that I need to explain myself to anyone.

Btw glad you pay attention to when I post.


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[Susie Cougar]

Joey, I noticed that you had not been posting for a few days. I was starting to get a little bit concerned because I know that you’re in New York and I know you’ve not been taking this thing very seriously. I was glad to see your post today and I’m glad you’re OK.

[joey2665]

Originally Posted by Susie Cougar

Joey, I noticed that you had not been posting for a few days. I was starting to get a little bit concerned because I know that you’re in New York and I know you’ve not been taking this thing very seriously. I was glad to see your post today and I’m glad you’re OK.

Thank you for your concern I appreciate it . We are all good here. I truly hope you are well also.


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[Susie Cougar]

Yes, I am good here.