War Stories
So another busy season has come and gone. This one……was a bit rough. And while every busy season has it's stories, I got the prize for this year.
I'm not talking about the client I have who has to file in every state possible (and each state has a different tax return and different rules), and whose return then flows to 3 other entities that also have to file in almost all the states, too. Nor am I talking about some of the peaches we have for clients who bring their information in Friday at 4 p.m. and demand their completed return Monday at noon, totally frantic even though they've had 6 months to get their stuff together and in our hands.
Sure thing. How about a swift kick to the head for a reality check?
Last year's prize went to a coworker who had an older gentleman ask her if she could hack into his credit card records to find out how much he had paid the IRS in estimated payments. He couldn't remember how much the amounts were, and he wouldn't be able to find the statements in time, so couldn't she just hack his information to find it? She had to tell him that while probably technically possible (by someone who knows how to do that), "we don't do that sort of thing here." Something about it being kinda illegal.
But this year, the prize belongs to me. Upon a client's request, I had to create an extra worksheet that gave them a breakdown of certain information in their return. This was purely for the client's purposes and it was something they asked me for specifically. A copy of it, however, was mistakenly put in the filing copy of the return that is mailed to the IRS. When they asked why it was in there, I explained repeatedly in our half-hour phone conversation that the worksheet wasn't supposed to be in there, so they should pull it out. No problem, just take it out. But they were so nervous about touching the return, they couldn't do it.
Instead, they made an appointment with me, and a special trip to the office, so I could take the staple out, remove the page, and staple the return again.
Yep. This is why I get paid the big bucks, folks.
I'm not talking about the client I have who has to file in every state possible (and each state has a different tax return and different rules), and whose return then flows to 3 other entities that also have to file in almost all the states, too. Nor am I talking about some of the peaches we have for clients who bring their information in Friday at 4 p.m. and demand their completed return Monday at noon, totally frantic even though they've had 6 months to get their stuff together and in our hands.
Sure thing. How about a swift kick to the head for a reality check?
Last year's prize went to a coworker who had an older gentleman ask her if she could hack into his credit card records to find out how much he had paid the IRS in estimated payments. He couldn't remember how much the amounts were, and he wouldn't be able to find the statements in time, so couldn't she just hack his information to find it? She had to tell him that while probably technically possible (by someone who knows how to do that), "we don't do that sort of thing here." Something about it being kinda illegal.
But this year, the prize belongs to me. Upon a client's request, I had to create an extra worksheet that gave them a breakdown of certain information in their return. This was purely for the client's purposes and it was something they asked me for specifically. A copy of it, however, was mistakenly put in the filing copy of the return that is mailed to the IRS. When they asked why it was in there, I explained repeatedly in our half-hour phone conversation that the worksheet wasn't supposed to be in there, so they should pull it out. No problem, just take it out. But they were so nervous about touching the return, they couldn't do it.
Instead, they made an appointment with me, and a special trip to the office, so I could take the staple out, remove the page, and staple the return again.
Yep. This is why I get paid the big bucks, folks.
posted by Michael and Tiffany @ 1:23 PM
1 Comments:
At 7:16 PM,
Sara Carolina said…
"I believe that's my stapler, it was a swingline..."
Post a Comment
<< Home