Another Government Shutdown, Could It Happen In January?

Only a few months after the government shutdown, the AICPA is hinting that this disrupting event might happen again.  So what does this mean for taxpayers?  First and foremost, the IRS has already delayed the start of tax filing season from January 21 to sometime in between January 28 and February 4.  This obviously delays filing your return, receiving tax refunds, retaining IRS services, and also delays pending issues with audits.  With a shorter amount of time to resolve the issues the IRS normally solves, call volume and access to the IRS will be extremely hard.  What can you do to prevent yourself from being caught up in the flood of people trying to file their return after the filing date?

1.) Get all your information needed for the return BEFORE the filing date begins. (This allows your accountant to have a better idea of what he or she will additionally need from you in order to have a prompt response from the IRS).

2.) Lets try to predict whether or not you will receive a refund or will owe tax.  If we know this information we can at least prepare you for the result and maybe try to find some ways to either reduce what you owe or get a bigger refund.  With the time delay though there is no telling when people will receive answers, audits, and refunds.

The government shutdown will not happen if our representatives cannot come to an agreement on a deal.  Lets hope this shutdown does not happen so we do not have any more complications during tax season.  Hope for the best, but we still must plan for the worst.  So lets plan to be proactive about this tax season.

You Might Have Outgrown your Accountant If…

Hi All,

I wanted to have some fun with today’s post.  For those of you who don’t know, I am a major fan of slapstick comedy.  I think laughter keeps us young, and so we need to have fun and not be so serious all the time.  One of my favorite comedians is Jeff Foxworthy, famous for his “You Might Be a Redneck If” jokes.  So I thought I would make today’s post a twist of his style.  Here goes!

You Might Have Outgrown Your Accountant If….

• His office is a table at Starbucks that he “reserves” by leaving his notebook on it while he orders.
• All of his shirts have a big green square logo on the left chest pocket.
• He thinks the current #1 song is Surf City by the Beach Boys.
• His comb-over is 3 feet long and sort of just wraps around his head a few times.
• The hard candy on his desk is a brand that they haven’t made since the 70’s.
• It appears it actually would take 4 of him to change a light bulb.
• He dances around in the street wearing a Statue of Liberty costume to drum up new business.
• You can smell him from the parking lot when you show up for a meeting.
• He has made the news for not paying his own taxes.
• His office looks like it was struck by lightning, a tornado, and earthquake.  All at the same time.

And last but certainly not least, you might have outgrown your current accountant if…

• He has 3 teeth.  And 2 of those are in his pocket.

You might notice I use “he” in all of these examples.  That’s because if your accountant is a woman, she is probably doing a great job and you should give her a raise.

Apologies if I offended anyone, just trying to have some fun with accountant stereotypes today.

Have a splendid day!

Robert Gambardella