NationStates Jolt Archive

April is here and all the last minute tax filers in the US are getting ready to vow that they will do their taxes earlier next year.

I've been meaning to say this for a while, but I'd just like to tell anyone here who has yet to file:

Please please please don't get one of those stupid Rapid Refunds, or "Refund Anticipation Loans." They're the biggest scam since compassionate conservatism.

You can file electronically and have your whole refund in about 2 weeks. The fee for RAL's often works out to 130% interest, but it isn't a flat fee. If the IRS decides to review your return (which is happening more and more, especially this year) the bank backing your loan will keep charging interest!

If you make under $52,000 you can file online for free.

If you make under $39,000 you can go to a local IRS center an they will do your taxes for you. And no, they won't try to cheat you. They don't get a commission for how much money you don't get, but a lot of preparers get paid based on how much of a refund you get, which prompts them to claim deductions you don't really get padding their own paycheck and shafting you with a tax bill down the road.

Don't fall for the RAL bullshit.

Agreed. But, I just got my mom to do my taxes, since my mother is a whiz at this kind of stuff. She handles all of the financial details of the household...most of the time my dad doesn't ever actually see the money he makes.

If you make under $39,000 you can go to a local IRS center an they will do your taxes for you. And no, they won't try to cheat you. They don't get a commission for how much money you don't get, but a lot of preparers get paid based on how much of a refund you get, which prompts them to claim deductions you don't really get padding their own paycheck and shafting you with a tax bill down the road.

While I agree with just about everything you said, as a former tax preparer, I must take issue with the above statement. I never took deductions on someone's tax returns that hey weren't entitled to (according to them. If they had something that looked or sounded doubtful, I'd tell them the rules, and if they insisted, I'd put it in. Along with a private note at the end about the questionable deduction, to cover my ass.) Nor would anyone in my office.

Frankly, I didn't have to. Lots of the people I got as a beginner were EIC, and sometimes their refund ran up into the jaw-dropping range. And since I was paid by the hour, with a commission check after the end of the season, I rarely even thought about it. I'm sure the temptation is there for those who are only paid by commission, though.

if all you have is wages from a W-2 form and only yourself to declare Dont pay someone else to do your taxes. it will take you less than half an hour to do yourself. that is including the time it takes to figure out where your w2 form is.

You can file electronically and have your whole refund in about 2 weeks.

I filed electronically and had them electronically deposit it for me, had my refund in under a week.

While I agree with just about everything you said, as a former tax preparer, I must take issue with the above statement. I never took deductions on someone's tax returns that hey weren't entitled to (according to them. If they had something that looked or sounded doubtful, I'd tell them the rules, and if they insisted, I'd put it in. Along with a private note at the end about the questionable deduction, to cover my ass.) Nor would anyone in my office.

Frankly, I didn't have to. Lots of the people I got as a beginner were EIC, and sometimes their refund ran up into the jaw-dropping range. And since I was paid by the hour, with a commission check after the end of the season, I rarely even thought about it. I'm sure the temptation is there for those who are only paid by commission, though.

I'm not complaining about preparers in general. There are however preparers who get their fee as a percentage of the refund they create. And there is a powerful political lobby that opposes the idea of getting the IRS to help with taxes. They claim that the IRS can't be trusted to consider the best interests of the taxpayer. In reality it's because they want to charge for a service that the government could provide for free. Google California "turbo tax" battle and you'll see what I'm talking about.

My point was not that preparers will rip you off. It was that the people the IRS pays to prepare taxes won't rip you off. There's no incentive for them to do so. There is no reward for the rank-and-file for getting extra money out of people.