RLE Taxes

Tax Day 2020 is finally here! Sure took a lot longer this year! This marks the completion of my 20th regular season of professional tax preparation!

Thanks as always to my clients and friends for your business and support. Extension season will begin in another couple weeks, but for now it's time to chill!

It’s been a while since I’ve posted here, so “what an update”!

First and foremost, everyone please stay healthy and safe!

Tonight the State of California issued a “stay home except for essential needs” order.

Effective immediately and until the order is lifted, I’ll be cancelling all in-person office visits. I’ll be contacting clients with upcoming office appointments to make arrangements to work electronically or via USPS Priority Mail. We can exchange documents electronically or through the mail, and we can chat either over the phone or by video conference (I have both Skype and FaceTime up and running). Rest assured, we can still get your return completed, although there will be a bit of an adjustment and perhaps more back and forth than usual.

Right now, turnaround time is running on the high side. I appreciate your patience--I'm also doing my best not to overwork myself and to keep myself from being more susceptible to illnesses. Currently the *payment* deadline has been extended to July 15, and i expect the *filing* deadline will also be extended.

​If you have immediate questions or concerns, please get in touch with me. Otherwise, if you've already provided me your information, just know I'm working as quickly, efficiently, and safely as I can, and I'll be in touch with you soon.

The regular filing season is complete. Thanks so much to everyone for your continued business and support. This has been an especially challenging year--my common refrain was "everything and everyone is taking longer"! I appreciate your patience as we worked through the various challenges this season presented!

RLE Taxes is now closed until May 6, at which point I'll be back from vacation and will start working on clients on extensions. My plan is to finish most of those clients by the end of May, at least the ones who are ready and waiting. In June, I'll start working with clients on tax planning and projections for 2019, along with other issues that may come up. I'll update the appointment calendar once I'm back in the office in May.

Thanks again!
-russ

This is why I always close the office prior to the deadline.

IRS online filing system experiencing technical difficulties as deadline nears The IRS plans to attempt a "hard reboot" of its system in the hope of solving the problem.

RLE Taxes is now closed for the regular tax season. Thank you everyone--clients, friends, family--for your continued support. I couldn't do this without you!

This is a pretty good, easy to read article on the current state of the tax changes being discussed in Congress at the moment. Stay tuned...

Happy Tax Update | New Report: Why Any Possible "Tax Reform" Actually Passed will be a BOOM for the Assisted Side of the Tax Preparation Industry The House and Senate have now passed different versions of so called tax reform that is going into congressional reconciliation. That reconciliation coming together among these two houses of Congress is no guarantee as there are substantial differences to both of these bills and plenty of special in...

A timely article: http://www.mercurynews.com/2017/01/25/tax-season-is-here-with-headaches-for-small-businesses/?source=email

Tax season is here–with headaches for small businesses With the start of tax season, stress levels are rising at many small businesses. Even owners who are organized, keep good books and stay in touch with their accountants can find compiling returns t…

Wondering where your tax dollars go?

http://money.cnn.com/2016/04/18/pf/taxes/how-are-tax-dollars-spent/

How your federal income tax dollars are spent Health and defense sucked up half of your federal income tax dollars, while less than two cents of every dollar you paid went to housing or to science programs.

Don't fall for the scammers! At least they're starting to get their due:

http://www.forbes.com/sites/kellyphillipserb/2016/05/24/tigta-announces-significant-arrests-in-massive-irs-phone-scam/

TIGTA Announces Significant Arrests In Massive IRS Phone Scam Today, TIGTA announced the arrests of five individuals made in what has been characterized as an "ongoing investigation" into a massive IRS impersonation scam.

Good article: http://www.forbes.com/sites/robertwood/2016/05/17/can-you-avoid-california-taxes-by-moving/

Can You Avoid California Taxes By Moving? California's 13.3% tax can be punitive, so moving right before you trigger big income can be smart. But don't think it is easy.

Thanks to Laurie O'Bryne of O'Bryne's Tax Service in Carson City, Nevada, for sharing her top taxpayer excuses for not filing a return:

Taxpayer was hospitalized for bubonic plague.
Taxpayer had to move to Utah for the health of his cat.
Taxpayer got mad and threw his computer out of a window.
Getting tax records together caused the taxpayer to break out in shingles.
Taxpayer was afraid to file because he didn't want his wife to see how much money he had won at the casino.
Taxpayer's husband ran off with his brother's wife, and the taxpayer ended up with her husband's brother. They couldn't figure out who could claim whom.
Taxpayer was using medical ma*****na and kept forgetting to do things — including file.

Words of wisdom from a colleague (Julie Dailey). A nice take, IMHO.

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A do-it-yourself tax software ad says "it doesn't take a genius to do your taxes." That is quite correct. It doesn't take a genius to do your taxes.

It also doesn't take a genius to do the wiring in your house nor does it take a genius to install a toilet. It doesn't take a genius to make a soufflé; and it does not take a genius to change the brakes on your car.

All of these things you can certainly do yourself. If you figure them out without training or experience, you may luck out and not get electrocuted, or flood your house, or serve an embarrassing dessert to your guests, or hit something because your brakes fail.

Yes, you can certainly do your own taxes, but you don't know what you don't know. The IRS knows this about do-it-yourselfers, and give those tax returns more scrutiny.

You don't need me to do your taxes and you also don't need insurance on your house. But, once your house is in flames and your tax return under scrutiny, you're going to wish you had spent the money.

Hire an Enrolled Agent. Maybe a genius, maybe not, but we are highly educated and experienced in the field of income taxes....and these days, it is more important than ever to avoid dealing with the IRS.