H&R Block Almost Gave Me A Heart Attack
I will definitely have to find someone else other than H&R Block to do my taxes next year. I had always filled out the EZ form and gotten money back and it was so easy to do that myself. This year I was lost because when I looked at all the forms I had to fill out for self employment I didn’t have a clue.
So I called the lady that did Bill’s and set up an appointment and went today. She had told me on the phone that all I needed to bring was my figures so I’m thinking she doesn’t do many small business returns, but I have done none. Bill did have to go back home and get my 1099’s and I had already added up everything from my spreadsheet so that was okay.
However I didn’t realize I was suppose to break my advertising costs and everything else up separately so we played it by ear and she put everything pretty much under supplies which I really didn’t care so long as I was getting them done. Next year they will be itemized. I have to pay the IRS $3.00 because of a penalty on my 401 from Lowe’s and the state gets $5.00 from me and H&R almost gave me a heart attack.
Now here’s where Bill and I both got a shock because when she said it cost 218 dollars for filling these forms out I almost fell of my chair. I did have a send a friend thing so we will get 30 dollars back in the mail and she must have felt so bad that she searched all over the place and found some kind of code that brought the total down to $193. so with the $30 rebate it ended up costing 163.
Bill makes good money and he even gets money back and his only cost 151. I thought it might run around 70 bucks for mine so that was a shocker. I feel sorry for small business owners because it doesn’t look like they get a break on anything. Now I’m wondering if I even want to make extra money on the side unless I learn to fill out my own taxes. Yup.. I’ll do my own next year, I’m sure there must be a home program I can use.
April 4th, 2008 at 5:56 am
Wow.. that actually sounds freaky o.o… good thing u got at least some of your money back.
I dunno how I found a link back to my site from here so I came to check an although I didn’t really find my site link anywhere here *sobs* but it’s still a great site ^_^
Happy Blogging ^__^
April 4th, 2008 at 1:04 pm
Jude;
The one advantage to the fee which I dont think was that bad compared to what the other tax companies charge is you get to deduct the $163 off of next years tax return.
April 4th, 2008 at 1:18 pm
Jude, my husband does our taxes and uses a computer tax program called Quicken Turbo-Tax. It’s an awesome program! It’s so thorough, explains everything, and simplifies the process for you. They have prompt questions so that you don’t miss any deductions or whatever. It walks you through every stage of all the forms. I highly recommend it!
April 4th, 2008 at 1:53 pm
@ Rondentx Thanks for letting me know that. She didn’t tell me that I could use that next year. That makes it easier because I will need all the tax breaks I can find. That was very useful information.
@ Charla I told Bill that there had to be some software that I could use next year cheaper than 218 dollars. I was totally shocked. I will definitely be checking into that. Thanks so much.
April 4th, 2008 at 1:57 pm
Tamahome No Miko thanks so much for stopping by and sorry you couldn’t find a link, maybe I’ll work on a drop list and I’ll be sure to add you.
April 4th, 2008 at 4:21 pm
That really sucks! I’m a student and I didn’t make that much money at my part time job this year. I assumed that I would be getting a refund. I was in for a shock when I found out I owed the state $332. Apparently my job did not take out the proper percentage for state taxes. I was beyond pissed.
I did get back $92 from the feds… but next year I’m itemizing a few business expenses. I have a friend who charges reasonable prices… I definitely will not be using HRBlock!
April 4th, 2008 at 7:23 pm
Another Turbo-Tax user here. It really does make filling out taxes simple. My husband and I make it a team project, he “drives” and I feed him numbers. We can get it done in almost no time.
April 4th, 2008 at 9:03 pm
@ Dani I’m sorry that some companies are so dishonest, you should report them because they have to take out for the number of allowances that you claimed.
@ Anti I used Turbo Tax when I filed last year maybe I should have checked to see if they had a small business edition that I could have used. I will definitely get some type of software for next year and do my own.