Sending EIC client to VITA

[BHoffman]

...or anywhere but here. There is no way this woman feeds her son and husband on what she earns, and pays her mortgage, at etc. Hubby is a carpenter (with a "bad back"). I am sure he's working under the table. I'm not going to do this tax return. Sigh.

[DTS]

...I'm not going to do this tax return. Sigh.

Did you tell her that?

[RitaB]

Couple of thoughts

Did you tell her that?

She probably figured that out when BHoffman sent her to VITA. haha!



BHoffman, I agree that your assessment of the situation is probably correct. The carpenter probably drives a nicer vehicle than you, too.

OF COURSE, the woman may have savings or received an inheritance or something that they are living on...

[BHoffman]

She probably figured that out when BHoffman sent her to VITA. haha!



BHoffman, I agree that your assessment of the situation is probably correct. The carpenter probably drives a nicer vehicle than you, too.

OF COURSE, the woman may have savings or received an inheritance or something that they are living on...

I'm calling her within the hour. When I asked about other sources of income and how she managed to feed the family she got flustered and had no answer. My software has a pretty complete EIC due diligence checklist. OK until we get to the "Income" section. How can she pay the bills on the couple thousand left after Sch A without any outside support? I do not know and she will not answer.

I suspect the Gov't would like to see ALL returns showing EIC to be prepared by VITA. Well, here ya go!

[DTS]

Yes,

She probably figured that out when BHoffman sent her to VITA. haha!....The carpenter probably drives a nicer vehicle than you, too.

too late when I posted. She probably did figure that out.

I got rid of a customer a few years ago that always complained about the gov't not helping him enough, as he was climbing into his Escalade. Many of these people are driving better cars than my wife or me.

D

[BHoffman]

I don't know. She got really miserable when I explained the IRS audit process involving the inspection of bank statement deposits. I returned her paperwork via courier and am officially out of the EIC tax prep business. Just glad I only had 3 of them.

[RitaB]

I don't know. She got really miserable when I explained the IRS audit process involving the inspection of bank statement deposits. I returned her paperwork via courier and am officially out of the EIC tax prep business. Just glad I only had 3 of them.

I have a lot of them, some are appreciative and nice to work with, but most of mine are just obnoxious. In a big hurry to get their "refund" (as if!)... will you hold my check till it gets here... hey, my refund is late... blah, blah, blah...

[Black Bart]

Aw,

I suspect the Gov't would like to see ALL returns showing EIC to be prepared by VITA. Well, here ya go!

it's not that bad.

The worst are the guys claiming they "trim trees-do yard work-handyman jobs" making about $12K which gives 'em the $4824 (max EIC) less about $1800 FICA. I'm not as worried about a lack of income as I am an exact amount of income that these "self-employed" jack-of-all-trades come up with and come in with. I won't do these unless I know for sure they're real. Ask for documents and they'll tell you they didn't have any medical expenses.

I have a lot of them, some are appreciative and nice to work with...

I've probably got a couple of hundred and most are nice, decent people (we've pretty much weeded out the riff-raff) whose low salaries (in this area) just happen to put them in EIC brackets. They are not "gaming" the system and just accept whatever comes.

EIC aside, two really great middle-class boons (to my mind) have been CTC and the education credit.

[JohnH]

Another of the many reasons I don't e-file. It keeps most EIC folks out of my office. As soon as I tell them I paper file, they're off to HRB of JH. As a matter of fact, if 'm ever forced to begin e-flinging, I may just keep telling new clients I don't do it until after I determine whether they have an EIC.

[joanmcq]

My few EIC folks are usually single parents, with a W-2 in the 20-30k range, so I don't have a problem doing them.

[BHoffman]

it's not that bad.

The worst are the guys claiming they "trim trees-do yard work-handyman jobs" making about $12K which gives 'em the $4824 (max EIC) less about $1800 FICA. I'm not as worried about a lack of income as I am an exact amount of income that these "self-employed" jack-of-all-trades come up with and come in with. I won't do these unless I know for sure they're real. Ask for documents and they'll tell you they didn't have any medical expenses.



I've probably got a couple of hundred and most are nice, decent people (we've pretty much weeded out the riff-raff) whose low salaries (in this area) just happen to put them in EIC brackets. They are not "gaming" the system and just accept whatever comes.

EIC aside, two really great middle-class boons (to my mind) have been CTC and the education credit.

Don't get me wrong. This isn't a class warfare thing or about lower income folks. This is more about the scam artists who want to drag me into their twisted plot to get in on that government cheese.

[DTS]

Right

Don't get me wrong. This isn't a class warfare thing or about lower income folks. This is more about the scam artists who want to drag me into their twisted plot to get in on that government cheese.

B,

This is how I feel. I do have some really nice, wonderful people who work hard, do legitimate work and are so happy to receive this extra money. They are not out to scam anyone. It's the others that make this credit a bit hard to swallow.

D

[David1980]

it's not that bad.

The worst are the guys claiming they "trim trees-do yard work-handyman jobs" making about $12K which gives 'em the $4824 (max EIC) less about $1800 FICA.

And have niece/nephew for their qualifying children? Yes, that bugs me too. If I know they're legit I have no problem. Otherwise I try to scare them off with high prices.

[Black Bart]

Yeah, I know that and no offense taken.

Don't get me wrong. This isn't a class warfare thing or about lower income folks. This is more about the scam artists who want to drag me into their twisted plot to get in on that government cheese.

I didn't mean to play the Southern version of Al Sharpton and accuse you of "insensitivity" . I just thought I'd tell the boarders that not all the EICers are the professional welfare recipients we usually associate EIC with (although I've occasionally sprayed Lysol after troops of out-of-control screaming kids and greedy ignoramus parents). But while many people in my state look down on welfare, I don't know anybody (not counting you, erchess) who would turn down a free $2,000 tax "refund" on principle if low wages qualified them.

Lot of posters (including me) think EIC was a bad idea to begin with and gets worse every year ('09 max -- $5,500?). I can't imagine how Congress/IRS expects us to plug the dike with token "due diligence" questions while they throw buckets of cash at minimum-wage people.

[BHoffman]

Bart buddy

...hey, I'm a Bart fan, so we're good. You'd have to be really blunt to offend me, and that might not work either. I actually am sort of insensitive

Hahahaha!