woodbutcher

Well-known Member
I thought last Monday that I would login to my tax return in the tax prep software I use, so I could go ahead and efile my return. A screen came up that said their server is down. I figured it was a temporary problem, so I postponed my disagreeable task. So, now it's been three days, and the website is still unavailable. I've tried e-mailing their support site, and emails are returned. It looks like they've gone out of business at a very inconvenient time. I've already paid for my preparation and e-filing. Wouldn't you know? Does anybody know what the problem is with taxsoftware.com? I've used their software for over 15 years with no problem.
Butch
 
Had similar problems with H&R Block software. After numerous attempts to file, I asked for my money back. Forwarded taxes to a CPA who found serious issues with Block calculations. Learned to check software's work before submitting anything. CPA saved me a whole lot of embarrassment.
 
IMHO a CPA is worth every dime. I personally would never prepare my own taxes. But then mine are more complicated than most.
 
I agree.

I have an appointment for tomorrow to have mine done.

BTW, I switched CPA's several years ago. I hadn't been too satisfied with my old one, and after I made the switch, my new one (who I already knew personally) filed amended returns for the last several returns the old one had done and got me several thousand dollars in refunds on errors the old CPA had made.

The moral is, all CPAs are not equal. It pays to shop around and get references.
 
Tax prep software is nothing but a scam. Do yourself a favor and hire a tax accountant.
 
I'm a CPA as many here know. I could not even get your tax website to open. I can tell you something, and some people seem to think that I am only saying it to drum up work for my fellow accountants, but here it goes. The best bang for your buck in tax prep is a CPA. It is a specific licensed profession that requires extended education, internship and passing a very difficult exam. SOME will charge you a lot of money and, realistically, all will charge you more than doing it yourself. If you look you will find a guy, usually in business by himself, who will charge you a fair price. He will bring a lot to the table. Chances are he works with a lot of diverse people in many, many different industries and with a large variety of personal situations. Part of his job is to learn all about these different things so that he can best help them with their tax situation. In doing so he hears a lot of interesting information. He can share that with you if you find yourself in a similar situation. I have many clients who call me all year long asking some really unusual questions. In a lot of cases I can help them out. No software program is ever going to replace me in that regard. Generally speaking, other than the really simple returns, I also do a better job on the tax form. You should consider it.
 
I have been using a for CPA sometime and mine are complicated and the CPA will go with me if I am ever audited by IRS.
 
Dave, my tax situation is fairly simple: I get a pension, Social Security and some natural gas royalties. I have a mortgage. In previous years my situation was a bit more complicated so I've used an independent accountant who has, to my knowledge, done a good job.

I'm trying to figure my own taxes this year to save that $350. Would your advice to hire a professional still stand, given my circumstances?
 
I don't doubt that there are plenty of CPA's who are on the ball and well worth their money but I got to tell you that the company I work for pays a large national accounting firm to handle employee taxes and they are absolutely pathetic, it is shocking how many glaring errors they make which cost a lot of people time, money and aggravation, I have yet to deal with one of them that is even up to speed on the specific rules that they are hired to handle. My point is this, even if a person hires a CPA they ought to make it their business to learn as much as they can about their own situation tax wise so they can at least ask informed questions and make sure they are being equably represented, after all, it's their money. My oldest Son went to a local CPA a few years ago for a consultation before signing up with his firm and when he asked about suggestions to lower his tax liability the guy told him that he ought to be glad he had a good job and could afford to pay whatever amount he owed, needless to say my Son abruptly ended the meeting and left. We will never have meaningful tax reform in the US because their are millions of people making a living off of the system.
 
We have a tax accountant and I would not be without her. She is an absolute genius when it comes to deductions she will look at everything. She is also a forensic accountant, fully licensed in all 50 states. I also don't begrudge her her fees. What Dave H (MI)is telling you is the best ingo.
 
It is really important to have a good CPA work with you when you first retire. After that, you may be able to swing it yourself. Especially if the returns are the same from year to year. I have to tell you, that fee is a good bit more than I would charge in the same situation. You are talking the base return plus schedules A and E. Maybe a state. If what you are telling me is accurate, call around and get some quotes. Maybe tax returns are more expensive in your area? I only wish I could get $350 for 3-4 forms.
 
I agree. I guess you could say I am one of them, but I like to think I help keep a small portion honest.

Those accountants you are referring to in the national firm are not the same animal as what I referred to in a prior post. Many times those are kids right out of school. Depending on the state they could be doing an internship and not even be certified. Real work knowledge comes from experience which they will not have. I never worked in that environment, but I know a lot about it. Not a pleasant world to live in until and unless you get lucky and get out of the entry levels.
 
Can you print a hard copy and file by mail? Would at least get you filed, and CYA. If you have confidence in the calculations that is.
 
Thanks for your reply, Dave. I think I can handle this. My main concern was that I might miss some obscure rule that could benefit me. I agree that my tax guy is pricey: he charged me $85 to file an amended return to pick up one income source I'd overlooked.
 
The ones I am dealing with are not fresh out of school, they have several years of experience, or at least have been employed by their firm for several years, mostly they want to push paper, I am sure they charge our company some set fee and then so much for each additional form they fill out and that is really all they are interested in. They fill out multiple forms that have no relevance to my tax situation as well as generally screwing up my farm depreciation and schedule F, I always have to redo my return before submitting.
 
Yes, thanks Ray. I did print a copy earlier this month, and I can mail it the old-fashioned way. I've become spoiled by the ease of e-filing, and since I have paid to do it that way, I feel like I'm due. Looks like it ain't gonna happen.
Butch
 
Thanks, Dave and DG. I'm inclined to agree with what you are saying. I actually visited with a CPA several years ago with an issue concerning investment of retirement funds. Her advice was sound and has been applied to my situation. I think I will seek her help in the future.
Butch
 
The thing I liked about the accountant I went to see, was that she is familiar with the cattle business(gambling) where many of my deductions come from. I'm retired, too, so income from that has to be considered.
Butch
 
I tried that, but I guess I didn't get a good one. She had worked for IRS for several years in the past. In 1998, I incorporated my cattle business. I thought I needed help filing the 1120S return for the S corp. The first year she prepared the return, I assumed she knew what she was doing, so I didn't check her work. The second year I paid more tax than I thought I should have, but I still didn't look at what was going on. At tax preparation time of the third year, I visited with her and found that she showed that I was going to pay several thousand when I knew that was not right. When I looked through the return, she was treating a bill-of sale for 24 bred heifers as income, when it was clearly made out by another individual to me and should have been shown as an expense. I decided then that if I was going to have to check things that closely, I should just do the return myself.
 
I read that and I laugh. I worked for two CPA companies right out of college. While you might talk to a CPA and hand your information to a CPA the return is assigned to the pool and some kid right out of college (or an intern still in college) does the return and it gets sent back the senior CPA's office and who hands it back the individual for signing.

We had one partner that was the most disorganized man I had ever seen. He would interview a person that came in with their tax return and then send it back to the preparers without any notes. You would do the return and send it back for review and it would come back to your desk all marked up like a bad English paper - in the interview the people would tell him specific things that affected the return but he never took notes so you didn't know what he knew. He thought he was so clever showing us how we did it "wrong".

The only thing worse were returns that he had been doing for years without anyone else reviewing and then it would magically end up in the pool's returns. He would just do the minimum to keep the client happy until their taxes had turned into a real mess. The worst were his clients that would take money out of their corporate businesses and not want to pay taxes on it. He would simply show the withdrawal as a "loan" from the corporation to the shareholder. Problem is he would then forget about it. Next year they would do the same thing and he would show another loan and do the same for 5 or 6 years. I would get a return and have to go back and figure the interest the business should have been charging on the loans for each of the 5 years (back in the 1990s the imputed interest rates changed every year). You compound that for several years and suddenly the business has 30K in interest income when it didn't have a dime in the bank. Legally you should refile the returns for each of the years he skipped the imputed interest calculation but that adds interest and penalties to the returns for the unpaid taxes.... As their accountant and tax adviser he failed to tell them the long term ramifications of his actions to save them some taxes for one year. Then you get dinged because a return that should only take 3-4 hours somehow took you two-three days as your recreated several years of tax information from his chicken scratches. The worst part was as a "staff accountant" I wasn't allowed to call the client because they thought the partner was personally doing their return and they would get ticked if some young guy called them asking a bunch of awkward and probing questions. I would have to write my questions up, tell the partner in detail what I was doing and explain the mess of his I was fixing. Usually leading to some very tense terse conversations with the guy would signed my paycheck. I ended up doing several of his because either I was good at it or I had really ticked somebody off.
 
I'll second every word you say. My CPA, who is the manager of the local office of a larger private CPA firm has made me money every year, in peace of mind alone. For the low price of $835 he does my moms return, my C corp corporate return, my personal 1040 long form, files all my quarterly payroll taxes on employees, and state sales tax quarterlies plus puts up with me dropping off bank statements every month. Its a bargain.

When the IRS decided that I was going to be the lucky candidate for a 'research audit' he held my hand every step of the way, for 2 years. Other than when they came to the farm I never met with the IRS again. He did all the meetings, got them all the documents from his records, everything. Ended up that they looked at 4 years of returns over the 2 year audit and I owed the IRS nothing. Total due to him $1000.

Best money I spend, period.
 

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