I just got my refund from my taxes. It was for $2,000 less than I had claimed on my return.
My return was done by a CPA and wasn’t all that complicated.
WHy is the IRS shortchanging by $2,000?
Can they do this?
If your tax return isn’t that complicated, why was it done by a CPA?
The first year I was married, my wife insisted that our tax form be prepared by the same person that did her mother’s (he was a CPA). He charged us $50 for this “service”; he also made a $500 mistake in them. “Shucks,” I said, “I can make a $500 mistake for nothing”. Since then, I’ve done my taxes myself (despite the fact that my Schedule D has a tendency to look like War and Peace).
Did you read your form(s) or did you just sign them blindly? (The fact that they were done by a CPA does not mean that they are correct, nor that they will be accepted by the IRS.)
Did you do something foolish? (Hint: the IRS checks W-4s where the filer claims 50 dependents.)
Did you get a letter explaining why the IRS thinks that you owed $2,000 more in taxes than you did?
No, the IRS cannot simply levy an arbitrary amount of money from you. OTOH, the fact that you, or your tax preparer, or even both of you, think that you owe less money than the IRS does, does not mean that you are automatically right.
Sit down with a pad of paper and a calculator, and reconstruct your 1040 (it’s not rocket science, for goodness’ sake!). Cast about for disallowed deductions (“If I take out the $15,000 deduction for donating that beater to charity, then, by Harry, the IRS is right!”). Or ask your accountant; did he say, “I’ll prepare your taxes, but if you have a problem, I’ll deny that I even know you”? Hardly a working business relationship, in that case.
“I don’t just want you to feel envy. I want you to suffer, I want you to bleed, I want you to die a little bit each day. And I want you to thank me for it.” – What “Let’s just be friends” really means
Thanks for the reply.
No letter from the IRS yet, the deposit came direct deposit.
I have a CPA do my taxes for two reasons.
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He’s a personal friend, and we refer business back and forth. It would be weird if I didn’t have him do my taxes.
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It’s worth $100 to me to have the CPA take the liability for filling the form out correctly. If there is a problem, I can send the IRS directly to him.
I take standard deductions.
My 1040 is correct.
I did have a new dep[endent this year (i assure you she exists.)
What gives?
Well, then the first step ought to be to go to him and say, “I thought that I would get $X back from the IRS this year, and I only got $X-2000; what gives?”
“I don’t just want you to feel envy. I want you to suffer, I want you to bleed, I want you to die a little bit each day. And I want you to thank me for it.” – What “Let’s just be friends” really means
He’s out of the office today. This is why I’m asking here.
The only time a CPA is liable for a tax error is when the CPA knowingly commits fraud, all other errors, omissions etc are the responsibility of the taxpayer. Although, any decent CPA will still assist the taxpayer in the event of a problem.
BTW, did you remember to put down your new dependent’s social security #, omitting it could cause problems.
Kind of off the subject but…
We were (key word being WERE) going to a CPA friend of the family for years for our taxes. then the poor woman’s son got cancer and she became a basket case. Well to make a long story short, she took on twice as many clients to get more money for her son, but because she could not afford to be dragged away on an audit, she started preparing the returns and screwing things up IN FAVOR of the IRS and leaving them free money. Yes, I admit I was lame and never checked over the forms before signing them (as it was a family friend) but the IRS is pretty honest, and both times this happened (there was no third time as I dumped her ass after that) they sent me back money telling me I overpaid them. I felt bad because of the dying son and all, but as was suggested before, I can screw up my own taxes for free. I don’t need someone else to do it for me.
The reduction will NOT be for any questionable deductions, or anything like that. Without mailing you a “statutory Notice of Deficiency”, the IRS can not assess taxes w/o your OK. What you had was a “math error notice”, which means your CPA, (or even the IRS), made a math error. “Math errors” include such common errors as not entering things on the right line, which is what I would guess happened.
When you find out, let us know.
PS, I am a tax expert w/ 16 years exp, an “EA”.
Theres a guy Irwin Schiff, who can be found on the net, who doesn’t pay taxes. He says its not required. But he’s also gotten jail time for this.
Here’s the answer:
We transposed a digit in my new daughter’s Social Security #. (my fault BTW)
Thanks for the help.