So…

Just received an email letting me know that I can buy Turbo Tax and get my maximum refund!

Just a reminder that your “maximum refund” is not based on what tax software you use; it’s based on what you enter into that software!

And, of course, everyone should be interested in the maximum legal refund.

The other aspect of using Turbo Tax or any other do-it-yourself software – do you really know the tax laws and the consequences of what you’re entering? I recently had a new client come in; she did her own return in Turbo Tax. She had a capital loss carryover from the prior year (she had sold stocks / mutual funds at a loss in previous years; you can only deduct $3,000 per year of those losses, and her losses were more than that, so she was “carrying over” those unused losses). Well, in 2011 she had more of these sales and losses. She said, “well, what’s the point of entering these sales? It will just make my loss bigger, and I can only deduct $3,000, and I already have at least that much loss from last year, so why enter them”?.  Well, the IRS got the 1099 that reported the sale of those stocks. The selling price was something like $100,000; since she didn’t report them, the IRS assumed it was 100% gain, and assessed her a five figure tax bill!  Fixing the problem now costs her pretty much what the preparation would have cost her in the first place and she gets to wait for the IRS to correct the records and hope the State of Michigan doesn’t send a notice two years from now (they’re a little behind schedule right now!)

Owning a set of tools doesn’t make me  carpenter or mechanic, and using Turbo Tax doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll prepare your return correctly and receive the largest legal refund!

Please contact me if you have any questions regarding your taxes – and please refer your friends and family if they need my help!