I'm not sure how many hours I've spent on this.?ÿ
I got a delinquent notice for non-payment of taxes to the state back in Oct.?ÿ
Since my partner was out of the country and then the accountant was having an operation I let it linger.?ÿ
Then I got busy with family issues and it lingered a bit more, but the accountant was doing a back and forth with the state in the meantime.?ÿ
First report is that the state is refusing to accept payments cause of changes to the business.?ÿ
This is something that has been seamless for 30 years, so it was a puzzle, it's an automatic withdrawal from the bank each quarter.?ÿ
Finally the second non-payment notice comes and I'm out of town, the state is saying the bank is blocking payment.
When I get back I take the new letter from the state to the bank and we sit down to figure out why they are denying payment.?ÿ
Well they aren't denying payment, they have no hold on payments nor have they received any payment request from the state.
The state has new digs and all we can figure out is that they now have the wrong account numbers or the right account numbers sending them to the wrong bank in their new computer.?ÿ
What a mess. Hopefully the 4th quarter that's coming up will work and they don't try to get money for the third quarter cause I've sent a check out for that one...??.plus penalties, which is very annoying since it's nothing we've done wrong.?ÿ
How about some bank reorganization that changed the routing number, even if the account number is the same?
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For the last 12 years my accountant filed my federal 941 and 940 electronically with payment to the U.S. Treasury successfully (and silently) sucked out of the bank like clockwork.?ÿ I sign and mail hard copies like clockwork.?ÿ ?ÿ A year does not go by without the IRS sending me several letters stating I have thousands of dollars on deposit with no paperwork to go along with it.?ÿ It's maddening.?ÿ ?ÿEvery couple of months I have to mail copies of the forms to any one of several IRS offices to "make my paperwork compete".?ÿ Odgen, Utah or Austin, Texas or Wilkes Barre, PA...probably even some smaller offices I can't even remember.?ÿ
The other day I talked to one guy on the phone and then remembered I had another question and called back.?ÿ The second call verified they had copies on file that the first call said were missing.
While I have very little trouble with the state offices, the U.S. Treasury has the internal corporate structural integrity of a soup sandwich.?ÿ?ÿ
My nephew spent 8 months in the Federal pen, because he didn't take the IRS requests for his deduction varifications seriously.?ÿ
One thing about being self-employed, solo or solo pratitioner is that I can not understand why anyone that works under that assignment pays any taxes.
The more income taxes a person pays the more SS they will receive after they sign up for that.
Myself, I always wanted as much of my paycheck as possible because at the end of the year I could get most of it back again because of all the investments I made during that year.
Apart from having to upgrade computers to run the program, TurboTax has been my friend and I can write off all those computers.
A few years ago it was necessary to update to a Win7. In the last few months, I had to get a Win10 because TurboTax recommends it will run its updated program better.
0.02
@flga-pls-2-2
Long story but (after 2 yrs trying to correct and reading the tax code) I sued the Comm of the IRS, serving the US Attorney, and one other entity in Federal Court about non-payment of payroll taxes that I had personally paid. They counter sued and upon the US Attorney's realization of IRS gross negligence (as alleged), the US Atty called saying there had been a big mistake and offered to settle. They paid principal, interest, and penalty. It was a lot of money but did not make up for the 4 years they took from me. Sixty Minutes did a similar story on a Seattle Boat Captain, taking his boat, and the IRS abuse of power. lesson learned - no matter how hard you try to fix, sometimes the only way is to petition the courts (and this was from the PRO with IRS).
About 30 years ago I discovered a loophole that made absolutely no sense to me, but that appeared to have been written just for me.?ÿ Realizing I must be misunderstanding something, I called the IRS helpline to investigate.?ÿ An agent by the name of Charlie Brown (really) assisted me with my series of questions.?ÿ We worked through my situation line by line.?ÿ He told me I was doing everything correctly.?ÿ He also told me that most years some member of Congress would push through some little loophole like that in order to help a specific constituent or small group of constituents.?ÿ I was lucky enough to fit that case and had been smart enough to discover it.?ÿ What it boiled down to was I could do something that would make me pay them some additional amount in one area and they would then reimburse me a number roughly triple that number in a different area.?ÿ I very carefully followed all the required steps.?ÿ It worked.?ÿ I received a very nice refund that year.
I have handled my personal income taxes every year since I was 18 years old.?ÿ It is not nearly so complicated as most people think it is.?ÿ It is one heck of a lot simpler than the four calculus classes I had to pass in college.
It is one heck of a lot simpler than the four calculus classes I had to pass in college.
I also have always done my own taxes, with a calculator when it was really simple, then a spreadsheet, and for the last couple decades a purchased program.
I'm not sure it is simpler than calculus now. Calculus is self consistent and fundamentally true. Taxes have too many arbitrarily legislated rules, conditions, and if-greater-than tests.?ÿ
It appears to be on the state side, the bank numbers have stayed the same for a long time.
I did them for years on my own, then I started to purchase a computer program to help do them, then I gave them to the account cause of some major changes and I wanted to be sure. They sent me a bill that was less than the program cost each year.
It's one bill I'm happy to pay, worth every penny.
accountant?ÿ ... sent me a bill that was less than the program cost each year.?ÿ
You either had a very expensive program or a very cheap accountant. I thought the service for a routine 1040 and a few supporting forms was typically in 3 figures, and not unusual for a more complex one to be several hundred.
Being directly involved in tax form preparation keeps you somewhat informed yearround as to what may or may not be critical to maximizing the use of your own money.?ÿ I have known many people who will go out during the last week of the year to buy stuff they will never use simply because it is technically deductible.?ÿ Saving a certain percent of that purchase cost to reduce your current tax is totally stupid unless YOU NEED what you are buying.?ÿ I can't tell you how many farm sales for a deceased farmer I have attended?ÿ where there are thousands of dollars worth of steel fence posts and barb wire that have obviously been laying around unused for maybe a decade or more.
Yeah a simple 1040 left years ago, last time I paid for turbo-tax it was $200 for me and another $100 add on. The accountant was a bit more than 1/2 that total that year. It's gone up since, but I have fairly complex taxes.
It ain't about taxes but those strange loopholes (or just plain mistakes) show up in other places too. SEVERAL years ago a friend of mine applied for and took the exam for licensure in Florida. He got a response that he had not passed the exam. Then a few weeks later he received a letter that his license had been granted. Evidently the wording of the statute said something like, "must apply and take the LS exam". It did NOT say that you had to PASS the exam. It has been changed since that time. I did consider, at the time, applying just to see if I could get the license.
Andy
