Why Use a Professional Preparer

I am certain many of you wonder why you should use a professional preparer when your personal return is not very difficult.



Have you ever thought of it this way? You still need to buy the program - $50 to $100, including the state program. Then you have to download/install the program and spend at least some time learning the program or at least reading the directions and filling in the various boxes. You also need to have a copy of last year's return so that you can see how much your state refund was, to claim on the Federal and to see you Federal refund, which some states require.



After that, you need to go to the website and MAKE ABSOLUTELY CERTAIN that you have input the correct banking information. If you read the disclaimer on the IRS website when you go to electronically file your return, you will note that the IRS takes NO responsibility if you give them the wrong information and the refund is not deposited into your account for any reason, you must fight with your bank for restitution.



Here is a true, horror story. A woman filed her return online using the IRS website. She was claiming a general refund of approximately $2,000 along with a second-time homebuyer's credit of $6,500. When she filed, the site told her to expect her refund within two weeks.



When it had been three weeks and she still had not received her refund, she contacted the IRS who told her that the check had been issued the week before. The IRS would not give her the account number but when she checked her records, she discover that she had used the correct routing number but had inverted a couple of the numbers in the account number section. The IRS told her that they were issuing the $6,500 check on Friday and she could not stop the issuance but she could contact her bank and stop it at that end.



She immediately called the bank, told them the incorrect account number and the entire story and they said that the bank would reject the deposit as the name and account number had to match. Guess what?!? That did not happen.



The bank rejected the woman's state refund but the two Federal refunds went into the wrong account, the account holder immediately took out the money and closed the account. The IRS told her she had to get the money from the bank and the bank told her to get the money from the IRS and the wrong person had the money and was gone!!



Since the IRS clearly states on its website (http://www.irs.gov/) that they are not responsible for those types of errors, the woman probably has a pretty good lawsuit against the bank who allowed the transaction, especially since they did reject the state refund but allowed the federal.



In the meantime, it will probably cost the woman $20,000 to get back her $8,500.



If she would have come to us in the first place, we have safeguards in place to prevent that type of mistake. We have several checks and balances.



Plus, all she would need to do was gather her original documents, bring them into us and we would take all of the responsibility for making certain that the right money got into the right account. She would have spent much less time and not alot more money.

We are always looking for new clients if you are looking for a new preparer. Contact us directly or through our website, www.sscservices.com, and we will be happy to help you now and in the future.