I used TurboTax online, which imported all the info from the internets so I didn’t have to look at a single form or get confused by having to type in anything. It still managed to take about two hours of clicking “no” to everything and getting more and more nervous as the little number in the corner kept going up and down, getting more and more red.
I still understand the whole California tax thing even less than I understand California itself, apparently – supposedly they’ve been deducting money from me all year long, and I still ended up owing about $1000 to the state. What the hell is Arnold doing, anyway?
The worst part about the whole thing? I started having Republican thoughts. I actually thought the following for a moment, before my Real Brain took over, took the thought out behind the woodshed, shot it in the back of the head, and peed on it: “It’s a good thing I donated that tsunami money, because now I can deduct it.”
No shit! I got one such letter from the IRS, saying that I owed them taxes on some EE bonds I had cashed. They are tax-free if used for educational purposes only. Now, I had used them to help pay my tuition, but I had cashed them 4 years previously, into an account that my mother used for both tuition and vacation money, and had since closed that account, severed all ties with that bank, and destroyed all the paperwork. I was very, very worried that I couldn’t prove that I had used the bonds for tuition. So I sent a letter to the IRS saying that I had used them for college, and asking what they would require as proof of this. They sent me a nice little letter back which said, in essence, “oh, no problem, we’ll trust you on this one.” Totally bizarre.
Just send in approximately what you think you owe; you can get a refund or pay more when you file your actual return. But no sense paying penalties if you don’t have to, and you will pay on anything you underpay by. (They’re really not bad, though, unless you owe a whole lot.)
My story: Employee Stock Purchase plans are a pain in the ass. Not only do I have to figure which batch of shares I sold, what they were bought at and what they sold at (pretty standard), but I need to know the stock price at the start of each three month period I contribute to the plan; the price at the end of each three month period; all this for several years of stock that had a 10 to 1 reverse split in the middle. Historical stock records for tiny stocks are effin’ hard to find and all this just for a loss of about $700 on $1600 cost of stock. It probably took me longer to do that than the whole rest of my return.
My lady got an audit notice for 2003 federal taxes, asserting that about $17k of income had not been reported. Sure enough, a quick check of the return indicated that this income was on one of the W-2 forms attached to the return and fully accounted for on the claimed gross wages line (but, evidently, not noticed by the Persistent Imbecilic State drone at the IRS).
We need some sort of significant penalties (e.g. triple the amount they incorrectly said you owe, or immunity from audits forevermore, or something) for such harassment arising from gross negligence.
Back in January, 2002, H&R Block screwed up my taxes royally. As a result, last November both the IRS and the state revenue department hit me with huge assessments for back taxes that I simply can’t pay. Because of this, I will probably have to file for bankruptcy sometime in the next six or seven months. Fuck H&R Block. Fuck the IRS.
Years ago being young and carefree fresh out of the Navy I told him I haden’t filed in years. He turned such a lovely shade blue. That was from him stopping breathing while his jaw hung open. Ever since then I hand over a year’s worth of paperwork and he does it for me.
There is a line on the return for preperation fees. I should have put down the price of the case of beer I give him.
We had a really good CPA do ours for several years, that is until the IRS nailed him for income tax evasion and sent him to the pen. I understand he’s baggin’ groceries now.
Used TurboTax last year and again this. It’ll grab your old file and ask if your investments and expenses have changed, thereby filtering out unnecessary work.
Our problem is that what we owe at the end in addition to what we’ve had taken out all year keeps going up each year and has now reached uncomfortable levels. From $400 up to 8,000 over the last four years. That’s in addition to the freakin’ staggering amount already deducted. We’re up 2500 over last year, even though we didn’t get bonuses and thus made less and had higher deductions.
I’m just going to bite the bullet and pay my 8K, then find a good CPA (afuckinggain) and have him take care of it from now on, plus try and refile for past years and get some of what I’ve paid back.
Maybe I wouldn’t mind if they spent it a little wiser… but they don’t.
Thanks for the advice Gaudere and MaddyStrut that’s what I’ll do, but I know I’m going to overpay, I have some deductions I can’t support with my current documentation, that’s why the extension.
Have you talked to H&R Block about this? I’ve never used them, but I could swear their ads mention representing you in tax disputes for years they prepared your taxes.
I’m not quite sure what you mean. Yes, I believe it was last year we got a check for maybe $600 or so (we have 1 child).
Our two industries, pharmaceuticals and oil, both took a hit last year and our companies did not pay us the bonuses we’re used to so despite our raises our gross actually dropped. We had major medical expenses so our deductions actually rose. But this year’s 4/15 payment was still $2500 higher than last year’s.
One thing I did notice last night though is that one of our companies may not have taken the max out during the year as we’d requested. We’re double checking that now. TurboTax tried to assign us an underestimated payment penalty, something I’d never seen before, so we’re going to get to the bottom of this.
Yep, I sure have talked to H&R Block about this. They admitted up front that they’d screwed up. They paid the fines and fees due to the IRS up to that point (a mere pittance compared to the total amount due) and then walked away from the train wreck they’d caused. I’ve discussed the possibility of suing them with a lawyer, but it looks pretty iffy.
Don’t use H&R Block. Don’t ever use H&R Block. Tell all your family, friends and anybody you care about never to use H&R Block.
Mid-March I get a note from my local tax assessor (addressed to me) informing me that I had to come down and file for my Homestead Exemption before March 31st or I won’t get the exemption.
The punch line? When I get down there I find that since I didn’t live in and own the house on January 1st I don’t get the exemptopn.
Sure, I’ll only be in the house for like 98% of this year, but I guess that doesn’t count.
In order to dissuade people from under-withholding all year and then just paying the amount owed in April of the following year, the IRS assigns penalties if you under-withheld a significant amount from your paycheck (e.g. you owe more than $1000 and withheld less than 90% of the total due <–See the IRS site for actual numbers; my figures are from my very untrustworthy memory.)
You may be exempt from this penalty, however, TurboTax should have walked you through it.
Generally, you will not have to pay a penalty for 2004 if any of the following situations applies:
•The total of your withholding and estimated tax payments was at least as much as your 2003 tax (or 110% of your 2003 if your adjusted gross income was more than $150,000, $75,000 if your filing status is married filing separately) and you paid all required estimated tax payments on time.
•The tax balance due on your return is no more than 10% of your total 2004 tax, and you paid all required estimated tax payments on time.
etc, etc. I suggest reading pages 49 and 50 as there’s lots of good information there.
Note that if you owe thousands of dollars this year, you should definitely talk to a CPA about how to avoid the penalty next year. We have to keep having more extra withheld from our paychecks in order to avoid the penalty because our investments keep doing well (knock on wood!). Either that, or you have to file quarterly estimated payments, which is a royal pain.
Life is too crazy right now to bother with filing out the tax forms.
Yahoo has a news blurg that Americans spend 6.6 Billion Hours to do their tax paperwork. If this isn’t an argument for a flat tax rate and simplified filing, I don’t know what is.
Tax rates aren’t what make taxes complicated. It takes about five seconds to look up the relevant line in a tax table, no matter how progressive or regressive the tax rates are. What makes taxes complicated are deductions and exemptions. And if you think a flat tax rate would eliminate deductions and exemptions, quite frankly I want a hit of what you’re smoking. Do you really think that the half of the country on the lower 50% of the income scale is going to let anyone take away education deductions, child exemptions, deductions for health insurance costs, deductions for investment income, and whatnot in exchange for the higher tax rate that they would get in a flat tax system?