One for the Record Books
Wow. Today was... unforgettable. I called it way worse than that as it progressed, but I think I'll try not to swear too much here.
Tuesday is October 15. That is the day that you absolutely, positively have to get your taxes in in order to avoid penalties. You were supposed to pay what you owed in April, but people don't know that. They think if they procrastinate enough they don't have to send the money in right away. Or maybe they think if they wait long enough they won't owe, I dunno.
My first clients of the day came to me last year for the first time. They made their appointment several days ago. I asked if they could please get me their information ahead of time so we could finish up today. They sent me everything about 4 yesterday afternoon. Whatever. I stayed late and got it done. And then when I looked at my email this morning she'd sent me a whole bunch of new numbers, and another form she'd forgotten. And the form was seriously screwed up.
I happen to know the person who did that form, so I called her. She knows it's wrong, but she couldn't figure out how to fix it, so she just sent it out, she said. I don't do that kind of return often but I know exactly how to fix it. Gah. So I got that corrected.
Then the client told me she needs help filing with the state, she's supposed to do it quarterly and she can't get in to her account and she wanted me to call and get her in right now. So we spent 15 minutes on the phone and it turned out her husband had created an account for her business and forgot to tell her. What should have been a 15 minute finish turned into over an hour.
I was supposed to have an hour free, but somebody walked in to finish up. (who the hell just walks in on Oct 10? Or really any day but especially now?) While we were talking, somebody ELSE walked in. They were sitting in the lobby, heard his voice, asked the receptionist who it was, she TOLD them and they jumped up and came running into my office to say hi! And then started talking to me, in front of the first client, about the problem they had come to see me about! And introduced the father, who had come with them!
That really shook me up, it's never happened before. I reminded the receptionist about confidentiality rules (GOD!) and finished the guy up. Only he doesn't remember if he made any payments to IRS this year, and why does he owe so much, and his old CPA never asked him all these questions, she just stuck numbers on there.
He was barely out the door when an actual appointment walked in. He is a lovely man, I like him very much. He and his wife had a severely handicapped ten year old who died of the flu in February. He kept tearing up and I kept tearing up, and that was really hard.
Then another person WALKED IN. I swear, I don't usually have this many walk ins in a whole year. She had a letter from the IRS that could easily have waited until next week but she wanted to take care of it this very minute, so that took about 45 minutes.
When I checked my email, there was one from my main procrastinator. He did an offer in compromise three years ago, and got out of paying over $100,000. The only condition is that he has to file and pay on time for five years. And I can't get him in for anything this year. He wanted an appointment at 4 pm next Tuesday. I may have shrieked. I told him no later than tomorrow, and even then no guarantees. He thought maybe he could be ready by then.
There were four more emails from another guy. He is self employed and is going to owe around $80,000, and getting information from him is like pulling teeth. He sends me a new form every day or two. Today there were four, still missing a couple of crucial ones.
Another email was from someone who got a letter from the IRS 29 days ago, with a deadline of tomorrow to respond. She didn't understand it so she just waited, and now she wants to bring it in. I told her she could bring it Wednesday. She explained that it needed to be tomorrow because deadline. I explained that I have no time tomorrow. None. She made an appointment for Wednesday.
Next appointment was finishing up. When they came in last month, they didn't want to do their own bookkeeping, begged me to do it for them. I hate bookkeeping but I told them the price and they said they'd pay it. And then of course today they were shocked at the price and didn't have the money. I'll get it out of them but geez.
The last appointment was brand new. He sold a rental. I asked for last year's return because it will have what I need on there to take care of that, and he told me he never reported the income because it was an overall loss. Ten years with no rental on the tax returns, and now he's sold it. I don't even know what to do with that. And even if I did I'm pretty sure I wouldn't be getting it done by Tuesday. Oh my god.
I think I need a vacation.
Tuesday is October 15. That is the day that you absolutely, positively have to get your taxes in in order to avoid penalties. You were supposed to pay what you owed in April, but people don't know that. They think if they procrastinate enough they don't have to send the money in right away. Or maybe they think if they wait long enough they won't owe, I dunno.
My first clients of the day came to me last year for the first time. They made their appointment several days ago. I asked if they could please get me their information ahead of time so we could finish up today. They sent me everything about 4 yesterday afternoon. Whatever. I stayed late and got it done. And then when I looked at my email this morning she'd sent me a whole bunch of new numbers, and another form she'd forgotten. And the form was seriously screwed up.
I happen to know the person who did that form, so I called her. She knows it's wrong, but she couldn't figure out how to fix it, so she just sent it out, she said. I don't do that kind of return often but I know exactly how to fix it. Gah. So I got that corrected.
Then the client told me she needs help filing with the state, she's supposed to do it quarterly and she can't get in to her account and she wanted me to call and get her in right now. So we spent 15 minutes on the phone and it turned out her husband had created an account for her business and forgot to tell her. What should have been a 15 minute finish turned into over an hour.
I was supposed to have an hour free, but somebody walked in to finish up. (who the hell just walks in on Oct 10? Or really any day but especially now?) While we were talking, somebody ELSE walked in. They were sitting in the lobby, heard his voice, asked the receptionist who it was, she TOLD them and they jumped up and came running into my office to say hi! And then started talking to me, in front of the first client, about the problem they had come to see me about! And introduced the father, who had come with them!
That really shook me up, it's never happened before. I reminded the receptionist about confidentiality rules (GOD!) and finished the guy up. Only he doesn't remember if he made any payments to IRS this year, and why does he owe so much, and his old CPA never asked him all these questions, she just stuck numbers on there.
He was barely out the door when an actual appointment walked in. He is a lovely man, I like him very much. He and his wife had a severely handicapped ten year old who died of the flu in February. He kept tearing up and I kept tearing up, and that was really hard.
Then another person WALKED IN. I swear, I don't usually have this many walk ins in a whole year. She had a letter from the IRS that could easily have waited until next week but she wanted to take care of it this very minute, so that took about 45 minutes.
When I checked my email, there was one from my main procrastinator. He did an offer in compromise three years ago, and got out of paying over $100,000. The only condition is that he has to file and pay on time for five years. And I can't get him in for anything this year. He wanted an appointment at 4 pm next Tuesday. I may have shrieked. I told him no later than tomorrow, and even then no guarantees. He thought maybe he could be ready by then.
There were four more emails from another guy. He is self employed and is going to owe around $80,000, and getting information from him is like pulling teeth. He sends me a new form every day or two. Today there were four, still missing a couple of crucial ones.
Another email was from someone who got a letter from the IRS 29 days ago, with a deadline of tomorrow to respond. She didn't understand it so she just waited, and now she wants to bring it in. I told her she could bring it Wednesday. She explained that it needed to be tomorrow because deadline. I explained that I have no time tomorrow. None. She made an appointment for Wednesday.
Next appointment was finishing up. When they came in last month, they didn't want to do their own bookkeeping, begged me to do it for them. I hate bookkeeping but I told them the price and they said they'd pay it. And then of course today they were shocked at the price and didn't have the money. I'll get it out of them but geez.
The last appointment was brand new. He sold a rental. I asked for last year's return because it will have what I need on there to take care of that, and he told me he never reported the income because it was an overall loss. Ten years with no rental on the tax returns, and now he's sold it. I don't even know what to do with that. And even if I did I'm pretty sure I wouldn't be getting it done by Tuesday. Oh my god.
I think I need a vacation.
Vacation or retirement? Geeze, people are effing dumb or are they just clueless? Part of the issue is that you are TOO good at this stuff, so they think you can pull it all out of your ass in 5 minutes. I'm glad that I'm the Ideal Client. LOL
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