Taxes done, refund already in my bank account on 1/31

[Opti]

Trying efiling with my employer. Stuck on categorizing FSA deductions. Are they a state deductible expense, Other? Weirdly FSA is not an option listed with the free package.

ETA - Figured it out, not deductible, now to deal with a different online service as I answered one Q wrong and it wants to charge me money to file a simple fed return.

[thyme4change]

Why we waited until the last minute to file I will never know (although I suspect it is procrastination due to anxiety). But we are expecting a sizable return for the first time in years. I wasn’t working and my husband was having extra taken out to cover us when I was working. I told him multiple times to change it - but he chose not to. So money a-coming my way.

[Rukh O'Rorke]

LOL, Another epic tax failure for me!

Never heard from tax guy, spent about 2-3 hours in turbo tax, and filed an extension.....

will likely try to see if tax guy can do it. There were things I knew tax guy had done, but I couldn't figure out how to enter it in turbo tax. 

So - just wasted my evening completely!

ETA: I'm really kind of worried about tax guy...like is he ok? I will give it a few days and maybe try to call his office to see what the story is...

[raeoflyte]

I filed 2022 taxes last week - yes really. And just hit pay and submit for 2023. I'm kicking the can for estimated tax payments though. First quarter I made a lot, but seems to be tapering off. I really have no idea what my actual income will be for the year and I hate to part with any more money than I have to at this point. I think I'd rather pay the penalty and have peace of mind for a while.

Here's to hoping I adult better in 2024 than I have been.

[minnesotapaintlady]

Reason #245 not to procrastinate.  H&R Block tax software crashed yesterday!  They were advising everyone to print their returns and mail them in.  I'll bet there were a lot of panic ridden people because as far as I know, post offices don't stay open until midnight on tax day anymore like they used to 30 years ago.

[raeoflyte]

I was prepared to pay the penalty but was relieved that taxact was up and running and not even slow when I remembered at 10pm. last night.

I don't even know why I waited though. I finished them last week.

[giramomma]

Apr 15, 2024 23:41:21 GMT -5 raeoflyte said:

I filed 2022 taxes last week - yes really. And just hit pay and submit for 2023. I'm kicking the can for estimated tax payments though. First quarter I made a lot, but seems to be tapering off. I really have no idea what my actual income will be for the year and I hate to part with any more money than I have to at this point. I think I'd rather pay the penalty and have peace of mind for a while.

Here's to hoping I adult better in 2024 than I have been.

The penalty is so small.

We had to pay a penalty once, when we were first married.

We were like, wait, what? That's it? 

The bark was worse than the bite, so to speak.

[minnesotapaintlady]

Apr 16, 2024 8:52:06 GMT -5 giramomma said:

Apr 15, 2024 23:41:21 GMT -5 raeoflyte said:

I filed 2022 taxes last week - yes really. And just hit pay and submit for 2023. I'm kicking the can for estimated tax payments though. First quarter I made a lot, but seems to be tapering off. I really have no idea what my actual income will be for the year and I hate to part with any more money than I have to at this point. I think I'd rather pay the penalty and have peace of mind for a while.

Here's to hoping I adult better in 2024 than I have been.

The penalty is so small.

We had to pay a penalty once, when we were first married.

We were like, wait, what? That's it? 

The bark was worse than the bite, so to speak.

Well, it depends on how much you owed.  Someone owing a few hundred wouldn't pay much of a penalty, but if you had a 10K tax bill the penalty would be $2500 for filing 5 months late.

If you don't owe at all or they owe you, there is no penalty for filing late.

[giramomma]

Apr 16, 2024 9:23:22 GMT -5 minnesotapaintlady said:

Apr 16, 2024 8:52:06 GMT -5 giramomma said:

The penalty is so small.

We had to pay a penalty once, when we were first married.

We were like, wait, what? That's it? 

The bark was worse than the bite, so to speak.

Well, it depends on how much you owed.  Someone owing a few hundred wouldn't pay much of a penalty, but if you had a 10K tax bill the penalty would be $2500 for filing 5 months late.

If you don't owe at all or they owe you, there is no penalty for filing late.

We had over a 1K tax bill. It was 20 years ago, so I don't remember. I think the penalty was something like $20. 

We expected it to be more than that. 

TBH, I was shocked we owed over 1K grossing 35K. No on tells you when you make that much, you have to withhold married, but at the single rate with 0 dependents or whatever, and you'd better fund tiras and a SEP for your SE income. It's not like 35K in 2001 was some outrageous income.

[Rukh O'Rorke]

Apr 16, 2024 7:20:34 GMT -5 minnesotapaintlady said:

Reason #245 not to procrastinate.  H&R Block tax software crashed yesterday!  They were advising everyone to print their returns and mail them in.  I'll bet there were a lot of panic ridden people because as far as I know, post offices don't stay open until midnight on tax day anymore like they used to 30 years ago.

[Rukh O'Rorke]

wonder if the H&R crash will be a big boon for turbo next year?

Would the irs grant filers any leeway? 

glad I was able to file an extension. tried to do it at irs site but weirdly they don't let you?

[minnesotapaintlady]

Apr 16, 2024 10:01:32 GMT -5 giramomma said:

Apr 16, 2024 9:23:22 GMT -5 minnesotapaintlady said:

Well, it depends on how much you owed.  Someone owing a few hundred wouldn't pay much of a penalty, but if you had a 10K tax bill the penalty would be $2500 for filing 5 months late.

If you don't owe at all or they owe you, there is no penalty for filing late.

We had over a 1K tax bill. It was 20 years ago, so I don't remember. I think the penalty was something like $20. 

We expected it to be more than that. 

TBH, I was shocked we owed over 1K grossing 35K. No on tells you when you make that much, you have to withhold married, but at the single rate with 0 dependents or whatever, and you'd better fund tiras and a SEP for your SE income. It's not like 35K in 2001 was some outrageous income.

I don't know what the penalties were 20 years ago.  Right now they're 5% of the due amount per month up to a max of 25%.

[minnesotapaintlady]

Apr 16, 2024 10:18:06 GMT -5 Rukh O'Rorke said:

wonder if the H&R crash will be a big boon for turbo next year?

Would the irs grant filers any leeway? 

glad I was able to file an extension. tried to do it at irs site but weirdly they don't let you?

I guess it got up and running again about 4pm or so, but there had to have been some people really sweating it out or looking at redoing somewhere else.

[TheOtherMe]

I used to know what the penalties were 20 years ago, but not any more.

The problem with filing late is the statute of limitations doesn't start running until you file.  That can bite you if you get audited and owe.  By the time an audit happens, it is at least a year down the road and the penalties will have added up.  

[TheOtherMe]

Rukh, a lot of tax offices now are working on employment tax returns and won't be touching individual tax returns until those are done.  They are due April 30.  

Most offices I worked at kept the phones off on the 16th or closed the office for the day.  Then hit the employment tax returns for the 1st quarter the next day.

[jerseygirl]

Mailed NJ return on April 9 as expect money back. Waited till Saturday for IRS cause owed
Well I used signature required for NJ and post office tracking says still not at the NJ tax office!?!
I’m going to check the tracking number

[Rukh O'Rorke]

Apr 16, 2024 11:27:00 GMT -5 TheOtherMe said:

Rukh, a lot of tax offices now are working on employment tax returns and won't be touching individual tax returns until those are done.  They are due April 30.  

Most offices I worked at kept the phones off on the 16th or closed the office for the day.  Then hit the employment tax returns for the 1st quarter the next day.

Thanks - good info!

So an unexpected twist in this tail! As I mentioned I was getting a little worried about the guy himself, wondering if he got ill, hurt, died, who knows?

So I googled up the office to see if any notice had been posted on the website - and yelp indicated recent reviews so I popped on to see. A couple of people had rated on yelp giving 1 or 2 stars the past 2 days based on the same issues I experienced - no communication, and no filing of taxes, etc. and one person mentioned having all paperwork submitted to him by February! So, it is not the case that I was just too late.

Another review said they had got him on the phone yesterday but he wasn't able to give them assurances he could file their return.

So - I think he has taken on far too many clients, and did not replace the EA he had working with him in 2023.

At this point, I think he has so many clients, and prioritizes services based on how big the clients are and I am on the lower tier, which is understandable! I had used a neighborhood CPA for a few years and was not happy with them. They acted like they did me a huge favor by getting a return based on nothing but pluggin in the usual numbers. It was annoying, like I was that stupid?

So I did turbo tax for a few years, but with RI it got more complex. So I tried out this current CPA, and I really really like his work. He is unassuming, doesn't act like a refund is something he pulled off out of thin air, but is also very thorough and digs into all potential deductions. But the communication has been lacking and this year no customer service at all....I was left hanging for two weeks not even knowing if he saw my documents or emails and if he would file an extenstion or not.

I know I am on the lower tier for him, he has a Michigan Ave. Office (high class for chicago businesses!). So if other clients got their info in in February and their taxes weren't done, then I'm not sure I could ever get things done on time with him. But I am pretty leary about looking for someone else as the quality is there.... In January, I had him prepare a 1099 for the data analyst I sometimes have help out with my RI work. So - he was responsive and got that done in January.

[wvugurl26]

We left our withholding at single and 1 or 0 when we got married. We usually get smaller refunds from both fed and state. This has survived even the table/W4 updates. I'd hate to imagine the bill if we did married withholding.

[azucena]

Apr 16, 2024 13:54:30 GMT -5 wvugurl26 said:

We left our withholding at single and 1 or 0 when we got married. We usually get smaller refunds from both fed and state. This has survived even the table/W4 updates. I'd hate to imagine the bill if we did married withholding.

This may be what I need to do.

[TheOtherMe]

Apr 16, 2024 12:57:16 GMT -5 Rukh O'Rorke said:

Apr 16, 2024 11:27:00 GMT -5 TheOtherMe said:

Rukh, a lot of tax offices now are working on employment tax returns and won't be touching individual tax returns until those are done.  They are due April 30.  

Most offices I worked at kept the phones off on the 16th or closed the office for the day.  Then hit the employment tax returns for the 1st quarter the next day.

Thanks - good info!

So an unexpected twist in this tail! As I mentioned I was getting a little worried about the guy himself, wondering if he got ill, hurt, died, who knows?

So I googled up the office to see if any notice had been posted on the website - and yelp indicated recent reviews so I popped on to see. A couple of people had rated on yelp giving 1 or 2 stars the past 2 days based on the same issues I experienced - no communication, and no filing of taxes, etc. and one person mentioned having all paperwork submitted to him by February! So, it is not the case that I was just too late.

Another review said they had got him on the phone yesterday but he wasn't able to give them assurances he could file their return.

So - I think he has taken on far too many clients, and did not replace the EA he had working with him in 2023.

At this point, I think he has so many clients, and prioritizes services based on how big the clients are and I am on the lower tier, which is understandable! I had used a neighborhood CPA for a few years and was not happy with them. They acted like they did me a huge favor by getting a return based on nothing but pluggin in the usual numbers. It was annoying, like I was that stupid?

So I did turbo tax for a few years, but with RI it got more complex. So I tried out this current CPA, and I really really like his work. He is unassuming, doesn't act like a refund is something he pulled off out of thin air, but is also very thorough and digs into all potential deductions. But the communication has been lacking and this year no customer service at all....I was left hanging for two weeks not even knowing if he saw my documents or emails and if he would file an extenstion or not.

I know I am on the lower tier for him, he has a Michigan Ave. Office (high class for chicago businesses!). So if other clients got their info in in February and their taxes weren't done, then I'm not sure I could ever get things done on time with him. But I am pretty leary about looking for someone else as the quality is there.... In January, I had him prepare a 1099 for the data analyst I sometimes have help out with my RI work. So - he was responsive and got that done in January.

Rukh, you are probably correct that in his world you are lower tier.  And tax preparation is more than plugging in numbers.  

I am seeing on #taxtwitter than tax preparers are short staffed and young people don't seem to want to do taxes.  With the crazy hours, I don't blame anyone who doesn't want to prepare tax returns.

Some of the firms that only prepare tax returns are looking at their client lists over the next few weeks to determine who to keep and who to fire.  I know this isn't you but if the client yelled at their Admin, preparer or owner, they will be fired.  Currently preparers can be picky about who they want as clients and they are.  

Some don't want any bookkeeping and some want bookkeeping clients because it helps with cash flow.  Some are realizing some of the big $ tax software is more than they need and what they make during tax season doesn't justify the cost.  

It sounds like lots of changes are coming in the tax business.

I don't trust H & R Block and the like in general and, yes, I worked there for a tax season.  

BIL is an enrolled agent and has been with Block over 25 years.  He is very good at what he does.  If you do go some place like that, make sure to get an enrolled agent at a minimum.  

My return is quite simple and I no longer feel condident in preparing anyone else's tax return for compensation.  I would prepare my 90 year old cousin's return if she asked.  With the sale of her house, she may think she needs to file a return because she will get the form on selling her house.  However, it's in a very run down town and the gross sales price is $60,000.  There is no way she had a profit in excess of $250,000.  She only has SS for other income and some interest.  I know her well enough that she is going to think she should file because of the form she will receive.  

My dad was like that.  It took BIL years to get him not to file a tax return.  He had no filing requirement, especially after mom died.

My pension will keep me filing as long as I live.  As long as Iowa doesn't tax most income by seniors, I don't have to be concerned with paying any taxes.  Next year, I will have to see if I have a filing requirement.  If I still have to file, it will be paper filed because I had no withholding.

[Rukh O'Rorke]

before leaving the yelp review page I hit refresh - and there was another one star review for today for someone who submitted all their paperwork in feb, didn't get their taxes done and found someone else on 4/15. I didn't think that was possible!

[Opti]

Apr 16, 2024 11:40:41 GMT -5 jerseygirl said:

Mailed NJ return on April 9 as expect money back. Waited till Saturday for IRS cause owed
Well I used signature required for NJ and post office tracking says still not at the NJ tax office!?!
I’m going to check the tracking number

Have you used signature required in the past for the NJ tax office?

[TheOtherMe]

Apr 16, 2024 15:47:43 GMT -5 Rukh O'Rorke said:

before leaving the yelp review page I hit refresh - and there was another one star review for today for someone who submitted all their paperwork in feb, didn't get their taxes done and found someone else on 4/15. I didn't think that was possible!

The year I worked at Block we worked until midnight.  There was a time we preparers had to be done as the e-files had to be transmitted by midnight.  We all started at 8 and worked as long as we were standing.

That's what BIL does at his Block office on the 15th.  At least he is no longer in charge and doesn't have to make sure everything is closed down and return on the 16th to close the office.

[soupandstew]

WooHoo!  Fed refund showed up in checking account today.  

[jerseygirl]

Remailing NJ tax forms. Mailed on April 9 but not delivered. Asked at PO , they put a request to scan but not found. Glad I paid the $4.50 for tracking
Copied the PO receipt and added an explanation

If original not delivered in 30 days then I’ll get back the tracking costs
We’re getting a refund from NJ so annoyed
IRS forms delivered (with the check for about $thousand)

[Rukh O'Rorke]

Apr 19, 2024 10:06:19 GMT -5 jerseygirl said:

Remailing NJ tax forms. Mailed on April 9 but not delivered. Asked at PO , they put a request to scan but not found. Glad I paid the $4.50 for tracking
Copied the PO receipt and added an explanation

If original not delivered in 30 days then I’ll get back the tracking costs
We’re getting a refund from NJ so annoyed
IRS forms delivered (with the check for about $thousand)

wow! yes good you had that tracked!

[haapai]

Apr 16, 2024 7:20:34 GMT -5 minnesotapaintlady said:

Reason #245 not to procrastinate.  H&R Block tax software crashed yesterday!  They were advising everyone to print their returns and mail them in.  I'll bet there were a lot of panic ridden people because as far as I know, post offices don't stay open until midnight on tax day anymore like they used to 30 years ago.

They most definitely do not.  My post office had a 3:30 deadline and the only other post office that I could get to closed at 5.  The days of at least one post office in a city or county staying open until midnight, with volunteers grabbing your envelopes for you and shoving them into a postbox are long gone. 

I landed up sending the Feds a buck via Direct Pay and indicating that it was for an extension. That got me a federal extension (I've overpaid the feds by $400) and a state extension without filing for it (I've overpaid the state another $400).  I sweated a lot for two hours until the Direct Pay transaction (my first) actually showed up in my checking account.  I was sweating because every other post office within driving distance was closing while I refreshed but it finally showed up. 

I didn't adult well on Monday.  On the other hand, I just had to tell the rest of you about the magic of Direct Pay. 

[TheOtherMe]

I think I would have to drive several hours to find a place that picks up mail until midnight.  Probably where my mail goes to get lost and sits for days

[haapai]

Apr 16, 2024 10:01:32 GMT -5 giramomma said:

TBH, I was shocked we owed over 1K grossing 35K. No on tells you when you make that much, you have to withhold married, but at the single rate with 0 dependents or whatever, and you'd better fund tiras and a SEP for your SE income. It's not like 35K in 2001 was some outrageous income.

I ran into the same thing working two part-time jobs in the 90s.  Neither job paid enough for much anything to be withheld even if you were filling out w-4s as single with zero exemptions.  I didn't land up owing the Feds, or at least owing them much, but I owed the state enough that it hurt.  Not knowing how this could happen hurt me even more. 

Nobody took me by the hand and explained that I needed to change my w-4s to get the state to take a set amount each paycheck. 

I suspect that I didn't figure out what had happened and how to prevent it until I had been taking accounting classes for two and a half years.  THIS STUFF SHOULD BE TAUGHT IN HIGH SCHOOL!

[daisylu]

DD asked me to double check her return because she owed over $1,000. As soon as I looked at her w2 I found it. Her employer had not taken state taxes out since she started in late 2022. How does that happen? 

She owed a small amount in 2022 because she had not worked that long. They fixed it this year. Think they caught it when she changed her home address on December 2023. Her new address is in the same state. So weird.