- quote -

An old yankee high school band master used that expression
about what the lady said when she kissed the cow:
"everybody to his own taste."

That's just the french above.

gothca!

Cheer$,
Harlan

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cbotella[at]aol.com (CBotella) wrote:

- quote -

Me, too. I've never heard of anyone french kissing a cow
before, even if they did like the flavor.

Stu

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- quote -

Harlan,
You lost me on that one!

Kate Botella, EA in PA

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Jonathan Kamens wrote:
- quote -

Everybody is not an accountant, nor do they have the mind
set that we have. Indeed if it weren't for this "forced
savings account", some people wouldn't have any savings at
all. (If I had no bad luck I'd have no luck atall! lol
remember that?) You just can't talk to some people about
what interest they forego, nor even to many other "educated"
people especially when interest rates are so darned low like
they are today.

For some people it does work, although for every one of them
there are three others who are enticed by RAL's, which is a
crying shame.

As the lady said when she kissed the cow, "chacun a son
gout."

Cheer$,
Harlan Lunsford, EA n LA

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glotzcpa1[at]cox.net (Paul H. Glotzer, CPA) writes:

- quote -

People who have so little control over their own spending
habits that they need the government to hold their money to
prevent them from spending it have much larger financial
problems than the lost interest on that money.

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"Your goal should be to get a very small refund, or even
better, to owe Uncle Sam a small amount. Otherwise, you're
just letting the government use your money interest-free for
a year."

I agree conceptually. I tell that to my clients. A few
have the attitude that it's forced savings. If they had it
they'd spend it. They use the refund for vacations or other
large purchases. For whatever reason, they don't care about
the lost interest. If they spent it they wouldn't have it
available to earn interest anyway.

PHG

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- quote -

I would be worried, just because. But see what changes he
would make and post them here, we will be glad to help you
work thru them. Remember, YOU sign that tax return as
completed correctly.

Helen, EA in PA
Member of The Tax Gang
Director, National Assoication of Enrolled Agents
Immediate Past President, PA Society of Enrolled Agents

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Ronnie wrote:

- quote -

You know what "they" say? something like... "If it sounds
too good to be true......... "

If he's doing these returns "on the side to make extra
money", that to me is a tip off that he's probably NOT
signing the returns as preparer. And if that is the case
(you can ask your cousin and sister) don't you dare
consider him as a preparer.

Of course maybe he does know the tax law, and perhaps knows
how to play what's called "audit roulette". Just think of
what that means.

No, I'd say maybe look around for an Enrolled Agent(EA) and
let him peruse your prior years returns first and comment on
the suitability of HR Block's preparers.

Now that I think is my three and a half cents worth!)

Cheer$,
Harlan Lunsford, EA n LA

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cyberron28[at]earthlink.net (Ronnie) writes:

- quote -

I'd run like the wind. You may be due a $10,000 refund, but
no reputable preparer is going to discuss your taxes in
terms of "I can get you $X back."

The amount of your refund is simply an arithmetic exercise
combining your tax refundable credits (including
withholding).

Phil Marti
Topeka, KS

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The amount of your refund is not what you should be focusing
on. You should be focusing on the total tax due.

If you got a $900 - $1,200 refund for the past three years,
then H&R Block was probably negligent for not telling you
that you should reduce your withholding to shrink the
refund. Your goal should not be to get a big refund at tax
time. Your goal should be to get a very small refund, or
even better, to owe Uncle Sam a small amount. Otherwise,
you're just letting the government use your money
interest-free for a year.

The people in this newsgroup cannot tell you whether it
makes sense that an accountant said you could get a $5,000
refund this year. We cannot calculate what your total tax
should be without having in front of us the same financial
information the accountant saw. And it would not be
particularly appropriate to post all of that information and
ask, "What should my tax be?" The preparers in this
newsgroup get paid to perform those calculations; it's not
right to ask them to do it for free. However, it is worth
pointing out that H&R Block is hardly known for doing the
best possible job of preparing tax returns, so it's entirely
possible that an independent accountant would be able to do
better.

As for checking out his credentials, if he claims to be a
CPA, then you can contact the state licensing body to
confirm that he is in fact certified and ask if they have
any complaints on file that have been made public (I can't
provide any more details about how to do that because you
didn't mention what state you're in). If he's doing taxes
on the side as opposed to running a real accounting
business, you probably can't find out if the BBB has any
complaints about him, since he doesn't actually have a
business.

Another option would be to have the accountant do your
returns and then review them line-by-line, make sure you
understand everything, and make sure everything looks
correct to you. You should be doing this regardless of who
prepares your tax returns. Any decent accountant should be
willing to review your return with you line-by-line
(although if he's charging you by the hour, that might cost
you extra).

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I usually go to H&R Block for my taxes and get about a $900
- $1200 refund (the last 3 years). My cousin works for a
lawyers firm and their accountant does tax returns on the
side for extra money. He looked at my paper work for about
10-15 minutes and asked me questions and said that I can get
a $5k refund this year.

My questions are:

1) Does this make sense? If H&R Block can only get me less
that $1200, why is he saying that he could get me so much
more?

2) Is there a way to check his credentials?

My cousin and his sister have already filed tax returns
through him and got back huge refunds this year. As well as
other employees in the firm have used him for their own
personal tax returns.

Thank you in advance for any input.

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