* Michael Cohn reports “H&R Block turns 70 in time for tax season” at ACCOUNTING TODAY.
Back in the mid-70’s I remember Jim Gill telling me he wished an H+R Block office would move next door to us because we would get many new clients who would need us to fix the errors Block made on their returns.
One year in the 80’s Jim got a hold of the fee schedule for H+R – and we were shocked at how expensive Henry and Richard were compared to Jim’s prices. I seem to recall H+R charged by the number of W-2s and 1099s – I think an additional $5.00 for each form.
Over the years H+R has gotten in lots of trouble for its auxiliary services, and most recently “H&R Block to Pay $7 Million to Settle FTC Case Alleging Deceptive Advertising”.
* New York and Pennsylvania state tax returns and instructions are now av available online.
* The IRS has begun to accept tax returns – but you shouldn’t race to be among the first to file. Kay Bell discusses “5 reasons to wait to file your tax return” at DON’T MESS WITH TAXES.
The first two items on the list are very important - #1 To allow for all your tax statements to arrive and #2 To ensure you have all other tax information.
Decades ago, a client came into the office to have his return prepared on February 2nd. I prepared the return and he signed and mailed it. The very next day he received an additional Form 1099 in the mail to report more income that was not included on the return he had mailed.
And if you have a brokerage account the broker will very likely issue a corrected Form 1099 in mid to late February.
* And Kay lists “7 tips for first-time tax return filers”.
I already commented on #6 – “Don’t be in such a hurry” – above. But her #7 is equally important – “Don't wait too long”.
THE LAST W
There are two types of people in America today -
People who support Trump, and
People with a brain and a conscience.
TTFN
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