Updated July 23, 2015
Tax Firms Chicago Illinois
Tax Firms Franchise
Have you ever gone to one of the franchised income tax firms, sat down with a preparer, and realized that you knew more about taxes than they did? Sadly, your experience is not unique.
Most of the franchises have an income tax course that is offered to the public free of charge. This is how they recruit new employees. The course is normally over two weeks. At the end of the course, participants are given a quiz. If you can type in a name, address, social security number, filing status, and a W-2 you will pass. If you pass you are offered a job professionally preparing income tax returns for the general public.
Is this really the person you want protecting you from the IRS?
What’s even worse than this is the Refund Anticipation Loan hustle. Most of these quickie income tax prep franchises will charge anywhere from 3% to 5% of your refund amount so that you can get a check the next day. What most people don’t understand is that if you electronically file with the refund going into your checking account, it only takes about two weeks to get your refund. So you’re paying a 3% to 5% interest rate over a two week period. If you annualize the rate over 52 weeks, it’s a rip off at well over 100%.
Normally the biggest problem comes with poorly prepared returns. If your return is done incorrectly, it will probably cost you more money than you think. When the IRS checks your return against what they have on file for your social security number, they may simply send out a letter informing you of the change. It will also tell you what additional tax, interest, and penalty that you now owe if you agree to the change.
If the change is substantial, they may refer the case into their audit division. No one wants to go through an audit. The time and aggravation alone, will probably cost more than any additional tax that they collect.
Be careful who you select to prepare your tax returns. If you are having problems with Tax Firms Chicago Illinois or have issues with your accounting in general, we would love to help. I enjoy hearing from my readers, and can be contacted at….
Chris@AccountingSolutionsltd.com
Additional Accounting Articles and information on my firm can be found at
www.AccountingSolutionsLtd.com
Chris Amundson is the President of Accounting Solutions Ltd., a full service public accounting firm of Certified Public Accountants and Enrolled Agents handling the bookkeeping, accounting, tax preparation, and audit representation needs of Businesses, Estates, Trusts, and Upper Income Individuals.