The husband and I have been dreading filing 2012 taxes for 10 months now. He went through a short sale on his property in May 2012, and let’s just say that PNC has been anything but cooperative throughout the process. {I’m working on a short sale post.} We had so much paperwork. He also had a 1099 from his part-time job, and adding that on to our regular income, put us in an entirely different tax bracket.
I mentioned in January that I had used several online calculators to help us get an idea of what we may owe, or be refunded. The results were all over the place, and I just assumed we would owe a few thousand. After having enough of my old tax preparer blowing us off (and simultaneously harassing us to make an appointment), I posted on Facebook looking for recommendations. Within the hour my son’s school owners sent me an email with their CPA’s information.
I emailed the new CPA the same email I sent my now ex-tax preparer. Within 30 minutes this woman not only responded, but answered every single question I had, and introduced herself. I made an appointment for this past Saturday night.
I’m going to say this was our first experience with a real CPA, and I loved her. She was detailed, asking us questions about deductions we had never even considered before, nor been asked in previous years. It took about an hour and she only charged us $105! Compared to H&R Block’s $400-$600 and last year’s psycho lady’s $250, I was thrilled. We both felt very comfortable with her, asking her questions. I even told her how I’m interested in the tax/accounting field, and she offered up some personal advice, and gave me information about an upcoming CPA/tax conference in Atlanta.
The end result? We owed. And we got a refund! We owe the state a whopping $20, and get $900 back from federal. Had my husband not qualified for the Mortgage Debt Relief Act of 2007, we would have owed $12,000! Thank goodness for this, I will discuss in more detail in my short sale post(s). This was a huge weight off our shoulders and I’m confident I’ve found a CPA I will use for years to come! It’s nice to finally be able to breathe, and no longer worry about that stupid townhouse in the ghetto. One March goal down, eight more to go!
Nicole Edwards said,
March 12, 2013 @ 4:49 pm
Glad your getting something back and that the amount owe wasn’t horrible. We owe this year so getting no refund sucks!! I hate that T is 1099!
Angella said,
March 13, 2013 @ 9:59 pm
I’m surprised you’re not getting a refund with the amount of deduction he could claim on the 1099. That’s kind of what saved us this year. B’s 1099 for his part-time job!
Nicole said,
March 13, 2013 @ 11:06 pm
I dunno. I think it’s cuz he has w2s too so that helps balances out the amount owe. But Travis is total 1099. So this year the detections weren’t enough to balance it out. We owed about $1500.
Angella said,
March 13, 2013 @ 11:46 pm
The W2 didn’t do a damn thing, it was seriously the 1099. You can deduct anything from a 1099, you can’t deduct expenses like mileage, cellphones, tools, etc. from W2. I can’t believe you owed with a 1099 and three kids!
Nicole P said,
March 16, 2013 @ 9:36 am
I got $2600 back this year (thank you student loan interest) and it all went to paying off debt. No fun! Hopefully some day I’ll be able to use it for fun things and not paying off other people. Hmph.
I’m glad that you finally found a tax professional that treats you with respect. Have you recommended her to your boss? Haha
Angella said,
March 16, 2013 @ 12:58 pm
Haha, no I didn’t even mention her to my boss. I don’t want her to have to deal with him and then hate me for the referral!