Tax Practice

[NECPA in NEBRASKA]

Is there something wrong with me? I just got put down for electronically filing tax returns by a client's daughter. Her tax person does not e-file and has all of his clients say that they refuse to efile so he files the 8958 (or whatever it is). His reasoning is that the IRS can get into your accounts too easily and take their money anytime that they feel like it and they know too much about you. I normally expect their neighbor,barber, etc. not a "really smart guy" that they love so much to say this crap. She just kept going on about why not mail it. I told her that I have to efile and it would be wrong of me to tell my clients not to efile, if that was my personal preference. 

[Yardley CPA]

 You have to smile when you hear these types of responses from "professionals".  When was the last time the IRS randomly accessed an individuals account electronically just because??  I think that preparers approach is a disservice to his clients.  Processing returns electronically is more efficient and I believe more secure as well.  I would never inform a client they should not efile, I actually encourage it and it's been quite a while since I prepared a paper return.   There isn't much you can do to sway the opinion of some people, you just have to grin and move on.  

  

[Lee B]

I don't know if he is still an active member of this board, but he used to post at least once every year that he paper filed everything because of ? ? ? ? 

[mcbreck]

I'd question whether the reason for the paper file is because they are using non-professional / free tax software. There is a guy who produces a free excel spreadsheet tax return. I'd wonder if they aren't using something like that or Turbo Tax for individuals.

[Lee B]

1 hour ago, cbslee said:

I don't know if he is still an active member of this board, but he used to post at least once every year that he paper filed everything because of ? ? ? ? 

The person I am referring to was an longtime ATX user.

[TexTaxToo]

There is a difference between e-filing and direct deposit/pay.  You can e-file and still pay by mail.

Of course, if you send them a check, they still have your account information.  Ask them how they are paying.  Maybe they want to take cash to a local IRS office??

[NECPA in NEBRASKA]

50 minutes ago, TexTaxToo said:

There is a difference between e-filing and direct deposit/pay.  You can e-file and still pay by mail.

Of course, if you send them a check, they still have your account information.  Ask them how they are paying.  Maybe they want to take cash to a local IRS office??

He also told them that they were more apt to get audited by electronically filing and that it gives them too much information. 

[Gail in Virginia]

It is hard to argue with people who believe dis-information.  Not sure where he got his facts.

[HV Ken]

17 minutes ago, Gail in Virginia said:

It is hard to argue with people who believe dis-information.  Not sure where he got his facts.

Those are alternative facts! 

[Abby Normal]

Paranoia.

[Lee B]

Given the Equifax fiasco several years ago, the are reasons to paranoid about some things!

[Lion EA]

Out here in the boonies, people steal out of mailboxes.

[Lee B]

1 hour ago, Lion EA said:

Out here in the boonies, people steal out of mailboxes.

I didn't know you had boonies in CT

[Lion EA]

Oh, yeah, 2-3 acre zoning, wells, septic tanks, no sidewalks, mailboxes on a post on the road. I have two giant propane tanks and a generator. Weston does have 1 stoplight now (didn't when I moved here). Didn't have lines painted on the roads when I moved here in 1978. 30 minutes or more to get to a grocery store, pharmacy, doctors, etc. Compared to NYC only 50 miles away, we are in the boonies. Heck, compared to Westport, CT, on Long Island Sound, just 30 minutes away, we're in the boonies!

[Catherine]

I've had people tell me similar. I ask them if they have a bank - yes (of course). Well, guys, the IRS already knows about it.  You're not telling them anything new.

Had one client who did not trust computer systems; wanted to paper file for that reason. When I told client it cut down on transcription errors at the IRS - i.e., the info goes into the computer regardless - that "reason" went poof! like a soap bubble.  

My guess is the preparer is using personal software not licensed for e-filing more than a couple (all family) returns.

[NECPA in NEBRASKA]

6 hours ago, Lion EA said:

Out here in the boonies, people steal out of mailboxes.

They steal out of them here, too. They are driving around in broad daylight getting caught on cameras. I'm glad to be home most of the time so I see when the mail gets here. 

[mcbreck]

Had a client who had a lot of the same concerns about EFTPS. The more I tried to explain it to him, the more sure it was a government plot. I pay / file with coupons and physical forms on a lot of stuff but EFTPS just makes sense.

[mcb39]

On 11/11/2021 at 9:18 PM, NECPA in NEBRASKA said:

They steal out of them here, too. They are driving around in broad daylight getting caught on cameras. I'm glad to be home most of the time so I see when the mail gets here. 

That's why I have a locked drop box right outside my home office door.  Also in the boonies and mail  boxes on a post by the Hiway.  My clients get it and use it.

[Lion EA]

I tell my clients NOT to use my mailbox. I have a large mail slot in my front door for clients to drop their tax folders into my locked entryway.

I once found my badly beaten mailbox, without mail, in the yard of a house a mile away on another street.

[schirallicpa]

After so many lost returns and lost payments over the last few months, whether I like it or not, I'm full on-board with electronic filing and payment.

[Abby Normal]

6 minutes ago, schirallicpa said:

After so many lost returns and lost payments over the last few months, whether I like it or not, I'm full on-board with electronic filing and payment.

I've been pushing that since a client mailed an IRS check to the state, and the state cashed it, but never told us there was an overpayment on the account (thieves!).