As part of my continuing professional education I attended a mandatory ethics course yesterday. There was a spattering of “we have a social responsibility as licensed professionals for X” but it was mostly “don’t due Y or you’re going to end up on the uncomfortable side of a lawsuit.” The teacher said a few interesting things during [...]
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The Phrase that Pays?
It amazes me sometimes how often I can ask for the same thing over and over (with different clients, or with the same one). It’s an ever-evolving process learning the best way to phrase a particular question to get the response you want. There are a lot of complex topics when it comes to taxes, [...]
Will the IRS catch me?
I get this question a lot. Clients and friends always ask if the IRS is going to come knocking and what happens if they do. The canned (and true) answer is that the IRS only tends to come knocking if you give them a reason to. If your return doesn’t have anything that raises a [...]
It’s the little things…
I’ve decided to start keeping a list. It will be a list of the little things about working in an office and in accounting that bring you joy. These are what sustain my sanity during busy season. So here we go: Finishing off a sticky note pad so you can finally start a new one [...]
Bloodbath
If there’s one thing accountants are attached to, it’s their 10-key calculator*. Every once in a while you have to show them who’s boss. This particular 10-key and I had to part ways back in September, I miss the guy! My new one and I don’t fight as much. *To be completely [...]
Gaming the system with dependents
Is anyone else excited to do their taxes for 2011 or is it just me? I just got my W-2s! It cost David and I $747 to file our 2010 taxes. It’s the amount of federal refund we lost because we had to file separately. It all has to do with income tax rates and [...]
The IRS, the “payroll” tax cut, and politics
I love when politics and tax come crashing into each other. Here’s a few recent ones: A while back the IRS was facing a $2 billion dollar cut to their budget. The IRS commissioner, testifying before congress, pointed out that for every dollar of the IRS budget they collect roughly $200 in revenue. But we [...]