mim
New Member
Posts: 18
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TAXES
Apr 17, 2018 11:31:36 GMT -6
Post by mim on Apr 17, 2018 11:31:36 GMT -6
We were audited once. We had a child with a large number of medical bills and expenses. I was a wreck having to go in and sit, with my husband, across from a stern face man going through all our paperwork... As he finished ( I recall my butt feeling sweaty against the linoleum chair) he broke into a smile...( which could have been taken either way) and told us we were going to get more money back. My husband died last year. He always did the taxes and I just signed them... I knew they were complicated from the amount of paperwork he collected and the different incomes, and outgoes we had. I spent weeks, this year, going through all the paper work, looking at last years, and the years before taxes. I gathered what I thought might be relevant and sat down with a wonderfully patient person from HR Block... Her math was much better than mine. I got back much more, because I asked for help. Also, if I’m audited (aaarrrrgh) they (the people from HR Block) will go with me... I’m already collecting what I need for next year... I cannot imagine the Naugler taxes... does she and her “accountant” keep proper records of everything if she’s audited... I have papers proving the charities, and all the Goodwill donations I made. Hopefully Nicole thought to declare all the charity work and all the donations she makes...and kept track of all the cash payments and tips. She’s daring people to call IRS on her... Considering the number of people who follow her, she’s an idiot... Nicole has clearly never been audited. She’d better be ready.
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TAXES
Apr 17, 2018 19:05:53 GMT -6
Post by Sally on Apr 17, 2018 19:05:53 GMT -6
She's unlikely to be audited. I don't think she makes enough money to spit at, in spite of her protestations to the contrary.
I keep a file folder handy and stuff papers in it all year long. Every now and then, I scan everything in the folder, put it in a nice folder in my computer and shred the paper copy. It's the only way I can keep from becoming a raving lunatic every April.
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TAXES
Apr 18, 2018 9:07:39 GMT -6
Post by tawdrysaga on Apr 18, 2018 9:07:39 GMT -6
We were audited in one of our lowest income years. My husband had both W2 wages and Schedule C self employment income along with home office deduction. Every income and expense item claimed was legitimate, so we had the best outcome: no change. However, I did have to produce documentation for absolutely every item on Schedule C. Besides the expected documentation required for ordinary and necessary business expenses, they asked for both personal and the then-newly-installed business phone bills so IRS could confirm that we were not deducting personal expenses on Schedule C. Husband had to draw sketch of our home to verify the square footage claimed as business-only use for the home office deduction. We had to produce ALL utility bills, homeowner insurance bills, property tax bills, pest control bills, and any other items that flowed onto home office deduction form.
We fell under IRS's DIF data that selects taxpayers for audit since we happened to have both wages and a Schedule C home office deduction. I remember someone in our office representing a Russian immigrant pro bono for same type situation that year. This was back in mid to late 1990s. DIF attributes used change depending upon whatever provision taxpayers are abusing.
However, lower income folks do indeed have less chance of audit than higher income taxpayers.
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TAXES
Apr 19, 2018 7:38:45 GMT -6
Post by Sally on Apr 19, 2018 7:38:45 GMT -6
You had all the red flag stuff. The home office thing will get you audited in a pair of seconds. Another thing is that times have changed. There simply aren't as many auditors available now as there were then, and they go for the big bucks. I'm glad your outcome was so good.
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TAXES
Apr 21, 2018 9:38:15 GMT -6
via mobile
Post by 3boysmom on Apr 21, 2018 9:38:15 GMT -6
Just off the topic a bit, do y’all still file your taxes on paper & mail them? We do because our accountant is old school. Now we do have our refund direct deposited, as that’s a much faster way to receive your money!
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Post by msnoble on Apr 21, 2018 10:54:03 GMT -6
I was wondering if I was the only one who shoves piles of paper at an accountant saying "This pile is what I make. This pile is what I pay. This pile is what I own. Fix it and make it go away!"
Just me?
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Post by Sally on Apr 21, 2018 21:06:53 GMT -6
God, I wish. LOL I've always done ours mostly because, as I explained today on the blog, I got forced into it.
And I do print my return out and mail it in. (I don't do it with a pencil anymore. I do it on the computer.) But I do that because our return has some funky stuff in it and I cannot efile as a result. If I could efile, I would.
There is a reason. One of the things I learned from the H&R Block tax course was that you don't want a human being to look at your return any more than you can help. An efiled return is never seen by a human being, period, as long as nothing gets triggered by the computer. Efiling didn't exist in those days, of course, but one of the strategies they recommended was waiting to file right at the deadline. That way, your return is buried in a pile of other returns. The data entry people have quotas and need to get through the pile of returns on their desk rapidly. The bigger the pile, the less time devoted to any one return.
And efiled returns are never seen by a human being, period, as long as nothing gets triggered by the computer.
That, of course, screws around with refunds, but I never get one anyway.
One other thing was that we were cautioned to think twice about ever filing an amended return. The statute of limitations starts ticking as soon as you file. Three years and you're golden (provided you haven't committed fraud). The second you file an amended return, the clock gets reset. So if that amended return will only net you a few dollars, don't do it. Just leave that sleeping dog lie.
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TAXES
Apr 22, 2018 15:50:06 GMT -6
via mobile
Sally likes this
Post by 3boysmom on Apr 22, 2018 15:50:06 GMT -6
I do gather all my stuff & then create a printout of all my expenses, donations, etc. It does make it easier for the accountant than going through each month. We don’t receive paper statements for any of our bank accounts anymore so if I take the time to itemize out things, it just saves our accountant time.
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