With many folks looking for convenience this tax season many people may turn to file their own taxes online.
However, there are some things you should be aware of. One Central Texas Woman who did not want to be identified said, she has been filing her taxes with an online filing service for a decade. She has not had any problems until now.
"I can still remember holding that letter and feeling, you know, a pit in the bottom of my stomach, you know because they never reach out to you with good news," she said. "It just makes me want to cry."
She received a c She thought taking the extra precautions to pay for a CPA through the filing service would do the trick.
She said, "They have a CPA, review your return to make sure that it's in working order. And I had done that. I had done that as a precautionary measure because I wanted to be sure what I was giving them was accurate. And turns out, it wasn't."
The woman now turning to a professional tax expert to help sort through the mess, she said, "It took them an awful lot of time trying to untangle everything. And it turns out that I will owe about $6,000 for three years."
Tim Thomasson Accounting and Business Law, Baylor University, CPA said, "You really need to understand what it is that you're submitting on that software because you're responsible for it. You're the one that the Internal Revenue Service is going to hold accountable."
"Any reputable tax preparer, tax preparation firm, or CPA, we have to follow the IRS guidelines regarding due diligence," said Keisha Miller Co-Owner of Prosperity Tax Service.
If your financial documents are simple online services can be a good option but Thomasson said, "The more complicated your tax situation is, the more valuable it is to have a professional prepare it."
Miller said, "When you are filling out your tax return online yourself, your risk, you are responsible for anything that happens. Good, bad or indifferent. It is just the education piece in and having the client understand what it is they've done, or how they, or what has transpired with the year with all their financial thoughts and what it means and what it looks like, moving forward."
The woman has yet to hear from the filing service but hopes others can learn from her story.
"It all could have been avoided. You know, if it just walked into human beings office and said I need you to do this," she said. "I put money away in case of an emergency and the fact that half of that money that I tucked away for an emergency if I ever needed it is now gone. It just makes me want to cry. I will never do it again."
