Inquiry from BusinessWeek magazine

[brian_burnsed]

Hello all,
I’m Brian Burnsed, a reporter with BusinessWeek magazine. I’m working on a story for the magazine about how hectic tax season can be and how it can sometimes become a source of contention among couples. I was wondering if any of you find that during tax season you and your spouse tend to drive each other crazy because of differences in tax habits (i.e. wife wants to file early, husband tends to wait until the last minute or vice versa, ect...) or if there are any CPA's, attorneys, or enrolled agents out there who have tales of clients squabbling with each other over taxes. I’m not looking to dig up deep seeded resentment among married couples, but rather have you talk in a fairly light hearted manner about some of the problems that tax time has caused for you in the past. If there are any of you out there who are willing to share your stories, I would relish the chance to speak to you. If you could, call me at your convenience at 404-240-7392 or e-mail me at brian_burnsed@businessweek.com so we can talk about this further. My deadline is next Friday, so if we could talk soon it would be a huge help. Thank you for your time and I look forward to hearing your stories.

Regards,
Brian Burnsed

[fliszt]

Why do

you ask about ". . . any CPA's" . . . ? What about "Attorneys"? What about "Enrolled Agents"? Just curious.

[thomtax]

Larry - Don't beat up on him too much. I think maybe when you saw CPAs, you missed the rest of the posting. In the same sentence he says CPAs. attorneys or enrolled agents.

LT

[Larmil]

I believe

Larry - Don't beat up on him too much. I think maybe when you saw CPAs, you missed the rest of the posting. In the same sentence he says CPAs. attorneys or enrolled agents.

LT

the original post was edited after Larry's reply.

[brian_burnsed]

Edit

To clear up confusion, I did edit to the post to include attorneys and enrolled agents after Larry's comment. Thanks for pointing that out, Larry, I'm sure it will be helpful.

Best,
Brian

[ChEAr$]

A capital idea

To clear up confusion, I did edit to the post to include attorneys and enrolled agents after Larry's comment. Thanks for pointing that out, Larry, I'm sure it will be helpful.

Best,
Brian

If you're going to capitalize CPA', at least capitalize EA"s. Okay?

and yes, we all have stories about one spouse kicking the other spouse under the table when
he tells about restoring that Corvette and selling it at a gain!

Or, don't capitalize either! that'll work.

[veritas]

Brian

Here is a thread with some material you might find useful.

http://www.thetaxbook.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2843&highlight=husband+wife

[David1980]

I think anyone who's ever done taxes will have a few people each year who come in and are convinced to file a MFJ return after realizing they won't get their EIC... Creates some awkward moments when they come back in and fight the full time you're getting info from them. (There's something to be said for having them fill out a worksheet and letting the secretary give them their papers.)

There's also the newly wed couples where the wife didn't know about the husband's trouble paying child support until the refund doesn't come through because it's getting applied to child supported he owes.

[Bees Knees]

A word of caution. Treasury regulations prohibit paid income tax preparers from discussing confidential information with third parties without the clients consent.

I’m not suggesting anyone from this board would be so dumb as to reveal names or specific information about their clients in violation of these rules. However, the simple act of having a tax professional being interviewed by a journalist relating conversations he or she has had with clients could damage his or her reputation in the community, even if the client is not identified in the article. The client will recognize who the tax professional is talking about.

If you are going to reveal anything to a news reporter, make sure your name and city is left out of the article. That is why most professionals who post questions on this message board do so under anonymous names.