"Taxing" Lessons Learned…

Posted by Bruce Mc on Oct 27, 2008 in Choosing a preparer, Tax Preparation | 2 comments

“Taxing” Lessons Learned…

            This is the finial addition to my series “Mistakes made when choosing a paid tax preparer”.

I want to first personally thank everyone who submitted a guest post. Thank You.

I hope this series full of Free information has opened your eyes to the lessons about filing your taxes with a paid tax practitioner.

Some people having read this whole series will conclude — oh well, “I’ll just file my taxes to Uncle Sam myself. It doesn’t seem like that big of a deal anyway”

With all due respect, this kind of attitude can get you is some hot water if you don’t watch out! Choosing the right tax professional is an investment of time and money, and I will add, a wise investment indeed. I say “wise” because the consequences of a misfiled tax return, an incorrect tax return or a late/penalized tax return are awful in the short and long term. Do not put yourself through the ongoing pain and agony of dealing with angry IRS agents and uncompromising auditors who’ll take you to the cleaners if you’re even the least bit sloppy.

Oh, you say you didn’t mean to make that mistake? Oh, you say you didn’t know you had to do this or that? Tough beans. Tax auditors eat these kinds of excuses up and spit out big red marks with lots of zeros on a line which says: YOU OWE!!!!

 Unless you are Bill Gates, these are not dollar figures you like to see in the red column. No one wants to pay unexpected bills, especially back taxes!

Now I’ll tell you a bigger problem.

Unclaimed refund money taxpayers never receive because they had no idea they were entitled to a certain deduction or they never filled out a particular form that automatically got them more money. The worst part is you don’t have extra money in your bank account or even in your pocket right now because you didn’t get a tax preparer who knew what they were doing to help you file in recent years. Statistically speaking, you could be out as much as $1,300.00 in back refund money because you choose to file by yourself. (Ouch!)

My clients wouldn’t take that chance. They’ve chosen a quality tax professional.

I ask those of you who have never hired a professional preparer, this year, hire one and ask to let them review your previous 3 years of tax returns (I don’t charge for reviews – if there is a 1040X then there are charges)at the same time. You might have some “buried treasure” lying around in your files and not know it.

Take action now … Before the deadline!

Most taxpayers procrastinate. I hope you are not one of them…

(My office is now scheduling appointments for the up-coming season)