Honesty probably costs me money.

[Boltlady]

Honesty combined with procrastination and an extreme aversion to paper work is what does it. I finally got my paper work to my CPA yesterday afternoon. He actually does all the hard part, or at least what would be considered the hard part.

Because of my aversion to paper work, throughout the year I wind up with several disorganized piles of all sorts of paper things. Then when it comes tax time, I do a real scramble to try and find whatever I need for them to be done. While I make sure that he gets all of the required stuff, I very likely miss out on quite a number of possible deductions. Since I never claim any unless I actually have the paper work right there to back them up in case of an audit, I know there are always receipts and things that I don't find so I don't get credit for them.

It's the price I have to pay for my shortcomings in that department, but so be it. At least they managed to have the stuff ready for me to sign today. I would have been alright since I have refunds coming, but it will feel good to have it out of the way for a while again. Since I've had the same CPA for about 25 years now, his office is used to me.

 

[fairsheet]

Presumably, your CPA is helping you out on the deduction front. That's what you pay him for.

Anyway....Congress continues to reduce the number of IRS auditors. But, we know that EACH new auditer pays for herself many times over. In other words, it COSTS us money when we cut the number of auditors and/or refuse to bring more on.

Now there may be some point of "critical mass" where additional agents no longer pay for themselves. But, we're nowhere close to that point now. The GOP wants to cut the deficit? Hiring more IRS auditors is a no-brainer place to start.

So.....why DON'T they do it? Well, first of all there's a popular perception out there that everyone deserves a fair shot and cheating on their taxes, so it's not "fair" to hire more agents. Also too.....the GOP has spent so much time spewing that taxes are "evil", counterproductive, and confiscatory, that the idea of increasing compliance is anathema to them.

 

[Boltlady]

Presumably, your CPA is helping you out on the deduction front. That's what you pay him for.

Anyway....Congress continues to reduce the number of IRS auditors. But, we know that EACH new auditer pays for herself many times over. In other words, it COSTS us money when we cut the number of auditors and/or refuse to bring more on.

Now there may be some point of "critical mass" where additional agents no longer pay for themselves. But, we're nowhere close to that point now. The GOP wants to cut the deficit? Hiring more IRS auditors is a no-brainer place to start.

So.....why DON'T they do it? Well, first of all there's a popular perception out there that everyone deserves a fair shot and cheating on their taxes, so it's not "fair" to hire more agents. Also too.....the GOP has spent so much time spewing that taxes are "evil", counterproductive, and confiscatory, that the idea of increasing compliance is anathema to them.

My CPA can't help me find things that I've either lost entirely or can't deal with the hassle of looking for. He would be comfortable with some other deductions but as I said, if I don't have the absolute proof, I let it go.

Got audited a bunch of years back and it was no fun. Seems silly I know, but I'm kind of the same way with coupons. Some people save and use coupons to great effect but I'm not one of them.

Years ago when I was really struggling to feed and house 4 kids I decided that I would save some money clipping coupons. I took the time to look through all kinds of papers and things to get them. Then I would catalog them and then try to use them. I found that usually no one store would have all the things I wanted to use them for, and sometimes just not the right size. I also found that sometimes other brands that we liked just as well were cheaper than the one's with the coupons. Sometimes I would find myself in a store and not have the coupons with me and other times I would find that whatever I wanted to use had expired.

All in all I found that I was spending a few extra hours altogether each week that I couldn't really spare, to get horribly frustrated. I finally decided that the amount of frustration was not worth the very few dollars that I ever managed to save. Since I've never been one to buy something just because it was on sale, I found that I did better by forgetting the whole coupon thing. I still don't bother with them for the most part.

OK, we all have our little idiosyncrasies.

 

[fairsheet]

I've been lucky to've never been audited. But, when my brother and I were in high school, our first "on the books" jobs were as soccer coaches/refs. My brother filed his 1040EZ for want of a $1.47 refund. Yup....a buck forty seven. He got the check and in the envelope, was a notice that he'd been audited.

 

[Boltlady]

I've been lucky to've never been audited. But, when my brother and I were in high school, our first "on the books" jobs were as soccer coaches/refs. My brother filed his 1040EZ for want of a $1.47 refund. Yup....a buck forty seven. He got the check and in the envelope, was a notice that he'd been audited.

Not too long ago I was dyslexic and inverted the last two numbers on a check I wrote for some property taxes. Sure enough they sent me a letter with the admonition that I was behind on my property tax and I needed to make a payment right away. So I wrote them a check for the .30 cents and mailed it off. The check duly cleared and I was good to go.

Nothing was going to get by them. No sir!

 

[fairsheet]

Not too long ago I was dyslexic and inverted the last two numbers on a check I wrote for some property taxes. Sure enough they sent me a letter with the admonition that I was behind on my property tax and I needed to make a payment right away. So I wrote them a check for the .30 cents and mailed it off. The check duly cleared and I was good to go.

Nothing was going to get by them. No sir!

Some time mid-college, in hopes of maximizing my refund, I came up with a scheme to "income average". I was really proud of myself and convinced that I was onto something.

Alas....when I got my refund, it was the exact amount I would've gotten if I'd filed a straight-up 1040EZ. As someone explained to me later, my whole "income averaging" scheme was pie-in-the-sky but...it was funny that the IRS never made the slightest mention of it. They just sent me my (revised) refund and that was that.

 

[NightSwimmer]

Long ago, I knew a young couple who had diligently kept track of all of their expenses and had paid a tax preparer to file their taxes. They were very proud of the fact that, by filing form 1040 and itemizing deductions, they had managed to get a nice little return on their taxes.

Just for shits and giggles, I did their taxes on a 1040A form, taking the standard deduction. Sure enough, their return was $50.00 less than what the tax preparer had gotten them -- and they only paid $75.00 to have their taxes done.

 

[Craig]

Long ago, I knew a young couple who had diligently kept track of all of their expenses and had paid a tax preparer to file their taxes. They were very proud of the fact that, by filing form 1040 and itemizing deductions, they had managed to get a nice little return on their taxes.

Just for shits and giggles, I did their taxes on a 1040A form, taking the standard deduction. Sure enough, their return was $50.00 less than what the tax preparer had gotten them -- and they only paid $75.00 to have their taxes done.

That's classic.

I run the EZ and A each year. We don't deduct charitable contributions for two reasons. We don't bother with the paperwork and it seems uncharitable to claim giving for tax purposes.

I have run those numbers along with various business and mileage breaks...to find something like a 10 dollar difference...

 

[MaryAnne]

Honesty combined with procrastination and an extreme aversion to paper work is what does it. I finally got my paper work to my CPA yesterday afternoon. He actually does all the hard part, or at least what would be considered the hard part.

Because of my aversion to paper work, throughout the year I wind up with several disorganized piles of all sorts of paper things. Then when it comes tax time, I do a real scramble to try and find whatever I need for them to be done. While I make sure that he gets all of the required stuff, I very likely miss out on quite a number of possible deductions. Since I never claim any unless I actually have the paper work right there to back them up in case of an audit, I know there are always receipts and things that I don't find so I don't get credit for them.

It's the price I have to pay for my shortcomings in that department, but so be it. At least they managed to have the stuff ready for me to sign today. I would have been alright since I have refunds coming, but it will feel good to have it out of the way for a while again. Since I've had the same CPA for about 25 years now, his office is used to me.

Bolt, I have found over the years that honesty pays off in more ways than one.

In business you lie to a customer to make a sale that day they will never trust you again. Be honest with them,you get their future business which is more important than today's sale.

 

[MaryAnne]

My CPA can't help me find things that I've either lost entirely or can't deal with the hassle of looking for. He would be comfortable with some other deductions but as I said, if I don't have the absolute proof, I let it go.

Got audited a bunch of years back and it was no fun. Seems silly I know, but I'm kind of the same way with coupons. Some people save and use coupons to great effect but I'm not one of them.

Years ago when I was really struggling to feed and house 4 kids I decided that I would save some money clipping coupons. I took the time to look through all kinds of papers and things to get them. Then I would catalog them and then try to use them. I found that usually no one store would have all the things I wanted to use them for, and sometimes just not the right size. I also found that sometimes other brands that we liked just as well were cheaper than the one's with the coupons. Sometimes I would find myself in a store and not have the coupons with me and other times I would find that whatever I wanted to use had expired.

All in all I found that I was spending a few extra hours altogether each week that I couldn't really spare, to get horribly frustrated. I finally decided that the amount of frustration was not worth the very few dollars that I ever managed to save. Since I've never been one to buy something just because it was on sale, I found that I did better by forgetting the whole coupon thing. I still don't bother with them for the most part.

OK, we all have our little idiosyncrasies.

Never use a coupon unless the product is on sale. Also check the generic. Few are inferior to the name brand right next to them.

 

[Boltlady]

Bolt, I have found over the years that honesty pays off in more ways than one.

In business you lie to a customer to make a sale that day they will never trust you again. Be honest with them,you get their future business which is more important than today's sale.

For that very reason, most of my customers are very loyal. They know they can trust us.

There is one downside to that though. They get used to us playing it straight with them and sometimes they tend to believe that other salespeople do too. Through the years we've lost a few that way but once they get burnt, they come scurrying back.

 

[MaryAnne]

For that very reason, most of my customers are very loyal. They know they can trust us.

There is one downside to that though. They get used to us playing it straight with them and sometimes they tend to believe that other salespeople do too. Through the years we've lost a few that way but once they get burnt, they come scurrying back.

Proof you are doing the right thing by your customers.

 

[connieb]

Honesty combined with procrastination and an extreme aversion to paper work is what does it. I finally got my paper work to my CPA yesterday afternoon. He actually does all the hard part, or at least what would be considered the hard part.

Because of my aversion to paper work, throughout the year I wind up with several disorganized piles of all sorts of paper things. Then when it comes tax time, I do a real scramble to try and find whatever I need for them to be done. While I make sure that he gets all of the required stuff, I very likely miss out on quite a number of possible deductions. Since I never claim any unless I actually have the paper work right there to back them up in case of an audit, I know there are always receipts and things that I don't find so I don't get credit for them.

It's the price I have to pay for my shortcomings in that department, but so be it. At least they managed to have the stuff ready for me to sign today. I would have been alright since I have refunds coming, but it will feel good to have it out of the way for a while again. Since I've had the same CPA for about 25 years now, his office is used to me.

I wish everyone had such a good attitude about it.

 

[fairsheet]

Long ago, I knew a young couple who had diligently kept track of all of their expenses and had paid a tax preparer to file their taxes. They were very proud of the fact that, by filing form 1040 and itemizing deductions, they had managed to get a nice little return on their taxes.

Just for shits and giggles, I did their taxes on a 1040A form, taking the standard deduction. Sure enough, their return was $50.00 less than what the tax preparer had gotten them -- and they only paid $75.00 to have their taxes done.

Since we don't have a state income tax, we get to deduct state sales tax. They offer a standard deduction, OR you can itemize. Anyone who has the time to keep the whole year's receipts and itemize, needs a hobby.

 

[connieb]

Since we don't have a state income tax, we get to deduct state sales tax. They offer a standard deduction, OR you can itemize. Anyone who has the time to keep the whole year's receipts and itemize, needs a hobby.

We have had clients bring in every toll receipt they ever got. And, these were people who were W2 employees. First of all - they would have needed to itemize to claim these deductions, which they did not because itemized was less than standard... but they also needed their non-reimbursed employee expenses to exceed a certain percentage of their AGI. So, basically it was an exercise in futility. Anyway... without fail they would ask if we had checked on their toll receipts.

 

[fairsheet]

We have had clients bring in every toll receipt they ever got. And, these were people who were W2 employees. First of all - they would have needed to itemize to claim these deductions, which they did not because itemized was less than standard... but they also needed their non-reimbursed employee expenses to exceed a certain percentage of their AGI. So, basically it was an exercise in futility. Anyway... without fail they would ask if we had checked on their toll receipts.

Some people are convinced that any and all taxes, are inherently bad. Therefore, they might be willing to expend $250 of their own time, in order to save $50 in taxes and they think that in doing so, they're "stickin' it to the man".

Those are the more extreme cases of course, but a whole lot of people sort of consider it their "duty" or whatever, to pay the least amount allowed by the tax laws. Nobody "enjoys" paying taxes and we all want to pay the least we can, but how much time and effort are we going to spend, trying to wring out that last dime.

It kind of reminds me of people who'll spend hundreds of hours and drive at least as many miles, going from dealer to dealer in order to assure themselves they've paid the very least they can.

 

[Fast Eddy]

Record keeping is hard as it takes discipline. I hate keeping track of things and at one point had 3 CPA's working for me. They not only save your time, but can recommend business moves you might not see. I feel a CPA has saved me 100x what I have payed them and it allows me the freedom to not to spend so much time doing something I hate.
Honesty is the only way to go. Life is to short to have to keep looking over your shoulder.