Insurance for having someone prepare your taxes?
By Kaeli72
@Kaeli72 (1229)
United States
March 18, 2008 10:16am CST
Sounds absurd, doesn't it? I mean, these people (H&R Block and other such places) are professionals, right? Take your information to them and have the file your income taxes to save you from the headaches.
A word to the wise...GET THE INSURANCE IN CASE THEY MAKE A MISTAKE!!! Yes, I was yelling because learn from my mistake last year:
We were late filing last year as it was, but when we finaly did it, we thought we were in the clear. Then, we get a nasty gram from the IRS informing us that of the children's information was incorrect...that the SS# had been tampered with. What did that mean? We called them up and they said that quite possibly, someone took my son's SS#, name and DOB and claimed him on their returns! Oh, we were mad!
Then, this year we tried to get the information straightened and it turns out...the stupid accountant mixed his first and last name. We should have filled in the "yes" dot when asked if we wanted insurance...just incase the preparer made a mistake, we would not be held liable and they would pay for the penalty fees.
I guess accountants and lawyers are human too.
1 person likes this
2 responses
@lightningd (1039)
• United States
23 Mar 08
With today's technology, why not take advatage of the free online tax preparation offered through the IRS website. The majority of the programs walk you through step by step. YOU fill in the information. It then asks you to verify and check the information you entered. The online preparation is usually free. Unless you make too much money. And if you're in that position, I would think you probably already have a tax preparer anyway. The online sites are dummy proof. As for insurance, the only way a mistake could be made is is YOU enter the wrong information or you lie about something. Most important thing to remember is keep good records. This year a rebate was offered for those who did energy saving upgrades to their homes. (I didn't know a thing about it, and hadn't considered it when I had new blow in insulation put in my home in January last year.) While I was going through the questions at Taxact.com, it asked if I had done any of these improvements, and I checked yes. It then asked me how much I spent on what, and I filled that out, and it figured up how much of a credit I got for that.
Take advantage of the options the IRS offers you.
