Pretty - No - Really Late Taxes
September 1, 2015 2:56 PM Subscribe
How do I choose a tax attorney?
For *reasons*, I haven't filed fed or state income tax in several years. Time to fix it up. I don't need 'tax advice', I need 'tax attorney' advice. I had thought I would walk into an H&R Block, but...
I have nothing complicated - head-of-household, alternate-year dependent (child custody, yo), W-4. Colorado Springs.
So. How do I pick a local attorney, besides randomly grabbing one off Google? And what can I expect to pay? Thanks!
For *reasons*, I haven't filed fed or state income tax in several years. Time to fix it up. I don't need 'tax advice', I need 'tax attorney' advice. I had thought I would walk into an H&R Block, but...
I have nothing complicated - head-of-household, alternate-year dependent (child custody, yo), W-4. Colorado Springs.
So. How do I pick a local attorney, besides randomly grabbing one off Google? And what can I expect to pay? Thanks!
Yeah, you probably don't need an attorney, just an accountant. Or honestly you could just start with TurboTax. If you owe taxes, you'll owe those taxes plus interest and a penalty. If you don't owe taxes, you won't owe anything and might even get a return. If you were a W-4 employee and had reasonable withholdings selected, you probably won't actually owe that much.
How do I know this? Because I lived it! You are not the first person to flake out on your taxes for a few years, and you won't be the last, and as long as you make a plan to pay the IRS what you owe them, everything is going to be 100% fine.
posted by mskyle at 3:17 PM on September 1, 2015 [7 favorites]
How do I know this? Because I lived it! You are not the first person to flake out on your taxes for a few years, and you won't be the last, and as long as you make a plan to pay the IRS what you owe them, everything is going to be 100% fine.
posted by mskyle at 3:17 PM on September 1, 2015 [7 favorites]
Seconding TurboTax and call the IRS to do your mea culpas and get further instructions. (Those people are SUPER NICE, I'm not joking, I assume the climate control at the call center pumps in a little nitrous oxide just to keep everyone relaxed.)
You don't need a tax attorney unless you are being sued. You don't need an accountant unless you don't understand how to fill out the forms. You don't need H&R Block because they're fuckers.
You just gotta do the thing. And then set up the payment plan (we haven't managed to get withholding right in like 8 years, we just refresh our payment plan every year, it's easier than most of our other bills except last year they forgot to withdraw the money for several months and then sent us horrible dire threats and we called and they were like "shit, sorry" and fixed it).
Unless you owe them millions and they want that tasty interest, they don't really care that you didn't pay as long as you're fessing up now.
posted by Lyn Never at 3:39 PM on September 1, 2015 [11 favorites]
You don't need a tax attorney unless you are being sued. You don't need an accountant unless you don't understand how to fill out the forms. You don't need H&R Block because they're fuckers.
You just gotta do the thing. And then set up the payment plan (we haven't managed to get withholding right in like 8 years, we just refresh our payment plan every year, it's easier than most of our other bills except last year they forgot to withdraw the money for several months and then sent us horrible dire threats and we called and they were like "shit, sorry" and fixed it).
Unless you owe them millions and they want that tasty interest, they don't really care that you didn't pay as long as you're fessing up now.
posted by Lyn Never at 3:39 PM on September 1, 2015 [11 favorites]
Nthing that the IRS is really not going to boil and eat your children - I'd just hire an accountant, or use Turbo Tax if you feel up to it. I've got a client who stays a hair behind on tax, and as others said - he keeps paying and they keep taking his money. Tax attorneys are for when you feel that you have a serious dispute with the IRS.
posted by randomkeystrike at 3:49 PM on September 1, 2015
posted by randomkeystrike at 3:49 PM on September 1, 2015
Just so you're clear on how it works: whether you use TurboTax or an accountant, all they will do is plug the numbers into the right spots and spit out tax forms that you can print and mail to the IRS. Accountants have no magic relationship with the IRS, they're just humans who plug numbers into forms just like TurboTax does. If your tax situation is simple, use TurboTax. If it's complicated it can be easier to use an accountant. Expect an accountant to charge about $350 per tax year.
Once the forms are filled out you'll know whether you owe money or not. If you don't -- if they owe you a refund -- they'll just send you a refund, end of story. If you owe money, you can either mail the forms with a check for the total, or you can just mail the forms. If you don't send payment, they will contact you with a lot of computer-generated letters, the upshot of which is the fact that you can set up a payment plan. Even if you do send payment, they will probably contact you about any fees and interest you owe.
Unless there's more to the story than just neglecting to file for a while, really, you just file. It'll be fine. It'll be better than fine actually, because it will be such a weight off your shoulders.
posted by rabbitrabbit at 3:57 PM on September 1, 2015 [1 favorite]
Once the forms are filled out you'll know whether you owe money or not. If you don't -- if they owe you a refund -- they'll just send you a refund, end of story. If you owe money, you can either mail the forms with a check for the total, or you can just mail the forms. If you don't send payment, they will contact you with a lot of computer-generated letters, the upshot of which is the fact that you can set up a payment plan. Even if you do send payment, they will probably contact you about any fees and interest you owe.
Unless there's more to the story than just neglecting to file for a while, really, you just file. It'll be fine. It'll be better than fine actually, because it will be such a weight off your shoulders.
posted by rabbitrabbit at 3:57 PM on September 1, 2015 [1 favorite]
No need for a tax attorney- I resolved a very similar issue for myself this year. I called a tax attorney and explained exactly where I was (simple tax situation, worried about consequences). He said he'd review my tax forms for $50/year and provided useful feedback for one year where I'd messed up my deductions. I had no need of services beyond this and used tax preparation software otherwise.
I then called the IRS, stated I'd neglected to file my back taxes and was doing so. They made a note that I was sending in multiple years and I sent in all my taxes. They sent me bills and deducted my refund from what I owed. I paid the remainder and I'm done.
posted by caphector at 4:00 PM on September 1, 2015
I then called the IRS, stated I'd neglected to file my back taxes and was doing so. They made a note that I was sending in multiple years and I sent in all my taxes. They sent me bills and deducted my refund from what I owed. I paid the remainder and I'm done.
posted by caphector at 4:00 PM on September 1, 2015
I was in a similar situation with my (now) ex-husband and we used a CPA. My memory's a tad fuzzy but about $200/return sounds right, with some hourly fee for an initial consultation/random stuff. We did not use or need an attorney. We found this person through a word-of-mouth. I would ask your local network for a recommendation. Nthing that the IRS is surprisingly nice. (Illinois Department of Revenue, less so.)
posted by desjardins at 4:12 PM on September 1, 2015
posted by desjardins at 4:12 PM on September 1, 2015
I didn't pay for years (I made very little in that time, so they only ended up "getting me" for the last couple). I was too overwhelmed to file myself though - the whole thing just freaked me out. So I went to a local tax preparer who was recommended by a friend. He filed for the missing years and filled out the right form for me to get a payment plan with the IRS. Problem was solved. I am now an upstanding, tax paying citizen.
posted by latkes at 4:27 PM on September 1, 2015
posted by latkes at 4:27 PM on September 1, 2015
The IRS is really nice. You can just give them a call if you need anything.
posted by zug at 4:40 PM on September 1, 2015 [2 favorites]
posted by zug at 4:40 PM on September 1, 2015 [2 favorites]
I highly recommend going to a professional. I recommend finding an independent accountant, as they will give you better service than places like H&R Block.
Last month I found out I had made some mistakes on my return and needed to file corrections, so I just picked an accountant with good reviews from Yelp, Switzer & Pritchard. (They're in Denver, though.) She got through all my 2014 taxes plus my quarterly filings for 2015 in an hour, I paid her $100 and that was that. In comparison, the tax attorney I sometimes use for business taxes in San Francisco charges $495 an hour. He's an old friend, so he usually gives me a discount, but still :)
posted by ananci at 4:53 PM on September 1, 2015 [1 favorite]
Last month I found out I had made some mistakes on my return and needed to file corrections, so I just picked an accountant with good reviews from Yelp, Switzer & Pritchard. (They're in Denver, though.) She got through all my 2014 taxes plus my quarterly filings for 2015 in an hour, I paid her $100 and that was that. In comparison, the tax attorney I sometimes use for business taxes in San Francisco charges $495 an hour. He's an old friend, so he usually gives me a discount, but still :)
posted by ananci at 4:53 PM on September 1, 2015 [1 favorite]
One reason to get moving on this is that you forfeit any refund due to you after several years.
posted by salvia at 5:01 PM on September 1, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by salvia at 5:01 PM on September 1, 2015 [1 favorite]
I also recommend a professional independent accountant; consider recommendations from people you know, with similar circumstances (tardiness aside). She or he will know the rules in ways Turbotax does not; the cost is well worth it.
posted by lathrop at 5:40 PM on September 1, 2015
posted by lathrop at 5:40 PM on September 1, 2015
If you did want a lawyer, there's an extensive section of the Mefi Wiki on How to get a lawyer.
posted by LobsterMitten at 6:26 PM on September 1, 2015
posted by LobsterMitten at 6:26 PM on September 1, 2015
Nthing starting with an accountant. I had some nonstandard dealings with the IRS involving previous years, and was able to deal by just bringing my paperwork to a professional accountant and saying "hey, uh, help me out here" and paid them a basic fee and paid the IRS a non-trivial amount of money with a trivial fine tacked onto it, and was done with it. If you end up in stupidly weird tax territory, the accountant can likely recommend a lawyer skilled in the appropriate irs incantations.
posted by rmd1023 at 7:32 PM on September 1, 2015
posted by rmd1023 at 7:32 PM on September 1, 2015
I've had to do this three times in the last 10 years or so, and ~$200 per year is what I've paid in metropolitan California. There has been little appreciable difference between "CPA," "Certified Tax Guy," and "Storefront Tax Guy." I think this is a pretty rote task for them.
posted by rhizome at 8:07 PM on September 1, 2015
posted by rhizome at 8:07 PM on September 1, 2015
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by salvia at 3:07 PM on September 1, 2015