Boiling Point

[Uncle Sam]

There comes a time - that to me has been reached - where you just explode with
tax preparation - having nothing to do with tax law.

Virtually every client that's come in during the last 10 days has been missing SOMETHING to prohibit being able to finish the return at the first interview (or mail in).

One client that came in today - had only 7 items to bring - her and her husband's W-2s,
mortgage interest, home equity line of credit interest, charitable donations, and 1 1099-INT, and Student Loan Interest. She forgot the mortgage interest with escrowed real estate taxes.

Another guy - who pretty much fills out the tax organizer (well, I may add) - does great -
until I discover a 1099-R for wife's IRA distribution is missing - even though he filled in the
blank lines with the same amount as last year. I convinced him I need the 1099-R. He goes
home and later calls me to say that there WAS NO distribution from that account last year.
Now he's checking to see if wife's IRA distribution from her other IRA covered the minimum distribution for both accounts. (Taxpayers are both in '80s).

You can just explode!!!!!!

[JohnH]

Extensions. Extend everybody who comes in, then you don't need to stress out about this stuff.

I have people who promised me 2 weeks ago they will get the remaining stuff to me right away. Personally I don't care if they don't get it to me until May 15, because that's probably when I'll get back to their return (unless I get in a real high-production mood between now and Apr 17 - very unlikely).

Somebody's got to worry about this stuff - make sure it's the client.

[taxitc]

There comes a time - that to me has been reached - where you just explode with
tax preparation - having nothing to do with tax law.

Virtually every client that's come in during the last 10 days has been missing SOMETHING to prohibit being able to finish the return at the first interview (or mail in).

One client that came in today - had only 7 items to bring - her and her husband's W-2s,
mortgage interest, home equity line of credit interest, charitable donations, and 1 1099-INT, and Student Loan Interest. She forgot the mortgage interest with escrowed real estate taxes.

Another guy - who pretty much fills out the tax organizer (well, I may add) - does great -
until I discover a 1099-R for wife's IRA distribution is missing - even though he filled in the
blank lines with the same amount as last year. I convinced him I need the 1099-R. He goes
home and later calls me to say that there WAS NO distribution from that account last year.
Now he's checking to see if wife's IRA distribution from her other IRA covered the minimum distribution for both accounts. (Taxpayers are both in '80s).

You can just explode!!!!!!

That is my experience too.