[nostrademons]

They take the interpretation of tax laws and your personal situation that is most favorable to the IRS, though. This can amount to tens of thousands of dollars that you pay them needlessly.

I missed the back of a capital gains worksheet once when reporting my taxes. Got a bill for $11,000+, between the missing stock sales and an education credit my wife took that the IRS was suspicious of. After actually tracking down the stock sales in question, reporting their cost basis (the IRS had assumed $0, because they don't have it so why not assume the value most favorable to them?), and refiguring the taxes, the ~$7K in tax liability had declined to $60. Then because that was so low, I got the ~$2K penalty waived. Then I produced documentation to show my wife was eligible for the education tax credit, and there went another $2K. By the time I had a full amended 1040, the $11K was down to $60, so I sent them a check for $60 along with all my documentation and got back a nice letter saying the matter was closed and no further tax was due.

Also be very wary of the CA FTB. They don't send you notices if you owe money; instead, they just record it as a debt, charge interest and penalties on it, and then send you a bill for the full total when the statute of limitations is about to expire. If you're aware of any problems in your federal tax return and you owe anything to California (which may occur even if you're not a CA resident - they tax stock granted at a CA job even if you later move out of state), make sure to pro-actively get in touch with them with an amended return and any money owed.

[true_religion]

> They take the interpretation of tax laws and your personal situation that is most favorable to the IRS, though. This can amount to tens of thousands of dollars that you pay them needlessly.

I agree 100%.

Though, I think that most people hear stories about a multi-thousand dollar tax notice, and become terrified that the IRS will force them to pay that money.

However, as your story illustrates, the notice they give is the worst case scenario. If you have any kind of documentation, you can add that amend your return and it'll be accepted by the IRS drastically reducing your tax bill.

This is made easier, because you're working with a real live human being on the other end---one who at least in my case, I could call and ask questions like 'what do documentation do you specifically need to see for X?' instead of guessing as is the norm for non accountants working within the complex tax code.