New deductions!

[ChEAr$]

Good think that tax preparer talks to the IRS agents every day so she knows that she can take all these deductions!

I'd have to do more than TALK to IRS agents to get away with that....

Perhaps he talks to IRS agents because they talk to him every day, iow, maybe
they "have his number", and are watching him daily.

If not already, they should.

[FEDUKE404]

LEO folks can be slippery

Why would someone in law enforcement want to be on the wrong side of the law? ....

With all due respect to the many fine people in law enforcement, it has been my experience in dealing with tax matters with many LEOs that a large number of them are more than willing to "bend the rules" in financial/tax matters.

For a long time second "security job" income was paid via 1099's - "I didn't make $600 there so I don't have to report it " was common. Businesses did so even if Barney worked at the same place part-time five days a week. Many with a slightly higher moral fiber would just put the income on the same line as W2 wages - "I DID report it!" And of course I was deemed to be the village idiot by putting said income on Sch C as well as Sch SE. I did not get too many repeat LEO clients - "Well, Joe does not do it that way and everybody else is getting larger refunds."

As I said earlier, it's not necessarily a flaw so much as a mind set - perhaps that someone "owes" them some tax breaks for having a hazardous and/or underpaid job. I'll spare you the details of a recent investigation when it was found that many local LEOs were also working at their "other" job at the same time they were supposedly on duty for their main job. Let's say their bosses now have a "higher" awareness level of their secondary employment.

I have encountered the attitude numerous times. Very strange!

FE

[Possi]

Most of them want the honest returns..

Most of my clients have heard of someone local who gets big refunds for police officers. At least one of them came to me this year because he was afraid of the tax returns filed in the past. I see that from time to time.

All the clients who stay with me know I do honest agressive tax returns. I take all the deductions possible, and I advise them on ways to keep up with their expenses easily.

I hope that gal gets audited. Oh, she had her name on the tax return and her tax ID number.

Ready for this?

name "Donna" That was her full name! "Donna"

ID# 777-77-7777

I swear to my Maker.

And he trusts her.

[BP.]

All right, Jesse, Gretel, FEDUKE404, I absolutely stand chastised for my utterly naive comment.

Proof you all have a point: Just had a client in who works as a massage therapist at a lovely and legit spa. There's this other massage place nearby where the blinds are drawn tight and with a sign that says to park in back. She confirmed it is not legit, but stays in biz because the local cops are patrons.

[FEDUKE404]

Parlor antics

...There's this other massage place nearby where the blinds are drawn tight and with a sign that says to park in back. She confirmed it is not legit, but stays in biz because the local cops are patrons.

Probably for "stress relief."

Do the police officers deduct the charges for said services on their tax returns??

FE

[JohnH]

Talking about clients who pay attention, I had mailed a client's return to him on Thursday and he received it on Friday. He walked up to me in church this AM to thank me for getting it out to him, then he asked "Just out of curiosity, what's Schedule M? That hasn't been on my return before has it?".

I commented that he's the first person to notice it this entire tax season, and then explained the MWP credit to him. After I told him how it worked, he asked, "So does it work the same way this year?" I replied that it does, and then he said "So I'll be seeing Schedule M on my 2010 return as well, right?" Again I said yes.

As he walked away he commented, more or less to himself "So that's why my withholding went down last April and then went up a little this January". The guy is sharp.