[OT] I'm In Shock!

"Melissa Houle" wrote in message
...

CatNipped wrote in message
...
We just got back from H&R Block. We owe *FOUR THOUSAND SIX HUNDRED
DOLLARS*
to the IRS! thud

--
Hugs,

CatNipped
http://www.PossiblePlaces.com/CatNipped/


*Melissa anxiously waves a bottle of smelling salts under Catnipped
nose.....

I'm sorry, that is a definite shocker. If it's any help, you're not
alone.
Proportionately speaking, I had a heck of a tax hit when I went to my
appointment last week. I tried to convince my tax man that three cats
OUGHT
to equal one child, but he just shook his head and laughed. He's a very
nice fellow, really. As nice as anyone can be who financially cleans one's
clock.

Melissa

What puzzles me is that last year we got *back* about $800 and I was still
at my old job that whole year making twice as much as I do now!

I just can't see where the Republican's claim of lowering taxes is a
reality - but then of course I'm not a multi-billionaire oil man, so it
probably doesn't apply to *me*! ;

Hugs,

CatNipped

On Wed, 13 Apr 2005 20:17:18 -0500, "CatNipped"
wrote:

That's what killed us. We had huge credit card bills so we figured we'd get
some money out of the IRA to pay them off and save all those interest
charges. So we got $26,000 out and held out almost $6,000 for taxes for
that. But on *TOP* of that the IRS charged us a $2,600 penalty!!!! The
freaking government is charging us for using our own freaking
money!!!!!!!!!!!!!! AAAAARRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!

Sympathy and empathy in your direction. I took money out of my 401K a
couple years ago when I bought my house. I was well warned though. I
signed papers right and left that warned me of the taxes and penalties.
It was no surprise come tax time.

Lorraine

Are you satisfied with H&R Block? I'm asking because we used to use
them, and every year their rates got higher and higher. We started
taking them to a CPA about five years ago. I was really surprised
he
charged us *less* than H&R. One benefit is that he's available for
any
kind of question all through the year, and doesn't charge us for
that.

Well, no. They advertise that they will, for free, evaluation the
last
couple of years' returns to get you "do overs" - they didn't. The
girl who
did our taxes complained that she was making all those mistakes
because she
was supposed to go home three hours ago - and she kept saying, "I
don't
know" to every question we asked (and having to lean over and ask the
guy at
the next desk) - even her supervisor couldn't answer some of our
questions
like, "Can we pay with a credit card?", she told us no, but we found
out
later that you can do so online and then write the voucher number on
your
tax return (not that we're going to do that except as a last resort).
*AND*
they charged us $300!

So, no, we're not at all satisfied with H&R Block!

Hugs,

CatNipped

Oh, for crying out loud. This is just like deja vu. It's almost exactly
what happened to us the last time we were there. Our taxes are not that
difficult. We file a regular 1040 for DH's wages, and have 2 rent
houses and an extra form for oil/gas income. H&R charged us $300 IIRC,
and the CPA charged $125, plus did our son's simple 1040 included in
that.
YMMV, since generally services are proportionately less expensive here,
along with wages
Catnipped, you do not have to send the money now. They just want you to
file. The IRS has payment plans that are much like any other debt. You
just get an invoice every month. They are much more workable and
people-friendly than they were 10 years ago.
Sherry

"-L." wrote in message
ups.com...

jmcquown wrote:
Yeah, BUT, IRA's are funds set aside pre-taxes. When I got my
partial
distributions I had them withhold tax. I also talked with my tax
advisor
AND with an IRS Rep. I'm unemployed, my sole income is ME and I have
medical expenses so I allegedly qualify for partial distributions
without
the penalty for early withdrawal. We shall see next year.

I'm still sorry to hear you got hit so hard. That sucks. They
really
shouldn't tax retirement savings, IMHO.

Jill

I don't have any problem with it. Look at how many people can't afford
an IRA at all...it's pretty much a luxury.

A luxury??! Social Security doesn't cover retired people's expenses *now*,
and we'll be lucky if the SSA is not bankrupt by the time we're ready to
retire!! We do without a *lot* of things in order to put money away for
retirement.

I don't really understand why people complain about having to pay taxes
at the end of the year when they have underpaid. Your witholding is
under your control and it's not that difficult to figure out how much
you should have withheld, to break even.

For one thing, tax laws have changed so much that it is *not* easy to figure
out what you should withhold. For another, if it were *just* taxes that we
owed, that was not taken out during the year, it wouldn't have been even
half that much. But it was *penalties* that we were told by our IRA
financial institute would *not* apply, but which actually *did* apply, *and*
penalties on top of that for not paying *those* penalties by a certain date
that did us in.

Hugs,

CatNipped

-L.

CatNipped wrote:
I'm a *lot* confused as to the difference between *filing* and
actually
*paying* taxes. Some people here have said be sure to file before
the 15th,
but implied that you don't have to send a check at the same time????
I

That's true. I think you can also file an extension, which would allow
you to file later. Not sure how this works, I would assume H&R Block
should be able to advise you on this.

Victor

CatNipped wrote:

-CatNipped
"Victor Martinez" wrote in message
...

CatNipped wrote:

It's just so ironic that what we did to get us out of debt is ending up
putting us back *in* debt! sigh

Hopefully the interests will be lower. How about a home equity loan? Those
have relatively low interest rates.


I don't think we could get that in time for filing Friday. I think we may
be able to get the signature loan before that -at probably about 8% interest
(which is *way* better than the 29% interest a credit card company would hit
us with - it's ironic that it was to pay off that same credit card company
that we pulled the money out of the IRA!).

I'm a *lot* confused as to the difference between *filing* and actually
*paying* taxes. Some people here have said be sure to file before the 15th,
but implied that you don't have to send a check at the same time???? I
didn't know you could do that, if that is indeed what they mean.

Hugs,

CatNipped


--
Victor M. Martinez
Owned and operated by the Fantastic Seven (TM)
Send your spam he
Email me he




Even if you file for an extension the IRS wants you to pay the estimated
amount owed when you file for an extension. You can arrnage to make
payments to the IRS but the IRS says that it might be cheaper to get a
bank loan in the long run. From the IRS website:

Can I ask to make installment payments on the amount I owe?

Yes. If you cannot pay the full amount due as shown on your return, you
can ask to make monthly installment payments. However, you will be
charged a one time user fee of $43.00, as well as interest on any tax
not paid by its due date, and you can be charged a late payment penalty
unless you can show reasonable cause for not paying the tax by April 15,
even if your request to pay in installments is granted. Before
requesting an installment agreement, you should consider less costly
alternatives such as a bank loan.

To request an installment agreement, send Form 9465 (PDF), Installment
Agreement Request, with your return or call (800) 829-1040. You should
receive a response within 30 days. For more details on installment
payments, refer to Tax Topic 202, What to do if You Can't Pay Your Tax,
or Publication 594 (PDF), Understanding the Collection Process.

--
Margaret Fine

Jeanne Hedge wrote:


I heard that the IRS charges penalties if you don't make any sort of
payment, but the amount of penalty depends on if you file on time. I
heard it was something like a 5% penalty if you don't file but 0.5% if
you do file. Plus they'll help you work out a payment plan. True?

I work for a tax accountant, and here is what we advise our
clients: Whatever you do, at least FILE your return on
time, even if you can't pay anything right now! (An
extension would give you more time to file, but since you're
supposed to pay whatever you'll owe, along with the
extension, that doesn't offer you much help.)

There are various possible penalties involved, but you can
at least save yourself the hefty one for late-filing. Of
course they charge interest on the late payments, as well as
penalties, but since interest is added onto the entire
balance you owe (including penalties) it's best to pay as
much as you can.

For information about installment agreements, etc., go to:
http://www.irs.gov/businesses/small/...108330,00.html
Although H & R Block are fine for normal tax preparation (in
fact when my firm suggested I take a tax course - at their
expense - that had no problem at all with my signing up for
the one Block offers). However, beyond standing behind
their work, if the government should have questions, I'm not
sure how much support they give you for things like reaching
payment agreements with the IRS. (Our firm does, of course,
but since our minimum fee for tax returns is $500, we're
obvioulsy geared to wealthy clients - who can also find
th4emselves short of money from time to time.)





I really found the tax "advice" of putting what you owe on your credit
cards amusing (this was on CNN). The did say it wasn't the best idea,
but also said that if your plastic gives you some sort of benefit
(like frequent flier miles or Discover's rebates) then it might be
worth considering. More debt to the bank to get out of debt to the
government, eh?





Jeanne Hedge, as directed by Natasha

============
http://www.jhedge.com

Victor M wrote:

CatNipped wrote:

I'm a *lot* confused as to the difference between *filing* and

actually

*paying* taxes. Some people here have said be sure to file before

the 15th,

but implied that you don't have to send a check at the same time????

I

That's true. I think you can also file an extension, which would allow
you to file later. Not sure how this works, I would assume H&R Block
should be able to advise you on this.

Victor


You can get a four month extension to file but you still have to make an
estimation of how much taxes are due and pay them by the 15th or you
have to pay a penalty and interest on the amount due. If the IRS finds
your estimation was unreasonable the extension becomes void and you have
to pay the penalty plus be in trouble for not filing by the 15th.

--
Margaret Fine

CatNipped wrote:

We just got back from H&R Block. We owe *FOUR THOUSAND SIX HUNDRED DOLLARS*
to the IRS! thud

--
Hugs,

CatNipped
http://www.PossiblePlaces.com/CatNipped/


Sorry about this!

The best thing you can do right now is go to the IRS website (IRS.gov)
and see what your options are or call them on the phone. The web site
actually has pretty good explanations of what you can and cannot do.

Before I do anything that may cost me I go and research it there. You'd
be amazed how often the experts are wrong and the web site is right. :-(

--
Margaret Fine

CatNipped wrote:

We just got back from H&R Block. We owe *FOUR THOUSAND SIX HUNDRED DOLLARS*
to the IRS! thud

--
Hugs,

CatNipped
http://www.PossiblePlaces.com/CatNipped/



Oh, and my .02 on H&R Block... We've always done our own taxes. One
year we had a tricky situation that we researched and filed ourselves.
The next year my husband's brother had the exact same situation and they
went to H&R Block. The H&R Block called me and asked me how we did it
and did the same thing. They hadn't a clue since it wasn't a normal
return. I'd get a second opinion since yours didn't sound straight
forward, either.

--
Margaret Fine