TAXES, EYE DOCTOR, FOOD SHOPPING - SO MUCH TO GET DONE!

 Started working on income taxes, corporation taxes and sales taxes this past couple of weeks as mentioned last week.  Depending on the type of the corporation the taxes (companies which use a calendar year as their tax year) is either March 15 or April 15.  I have one corporation to do with each due date.  I also have a partnership return which is also due by March 15.  Partnership is done and out.   The corporation return due March 15 is the one which needs the extension – and still working on getting the paperwork to do same (for our state – Federal and city extensions are filed).  The corporation return due April 15 is at least started.  Sales tax return for the partnership is completed and mailed.  That leaves the other two sales tax returns – at least I have until the 20th for them.  

Then I have the regular individual returns which are due – as all of you in the US know – is due by April 15th.  Started working on one of them also.  

There seems to be plenty of time for the April 15 returns, but they need to be done and mailed to the clients for them to sign, mail and maybe write a check – for each return – Federal and state – and I know from past years (decades) that the time passes in an instant.  

Then, today, we went to our eye doctor (which took up the entire day so no work done).  He is in the next county so it is a bit of drive and worst of all, driving home we are driving into the setting sun – with drops in our eyes so the sun is all the worse to have in front of us.  At least we had good exams with no problems and very little change in vision – don't need new glasses unless we want.  

After I post this I will go back to the supermarket shopping list I started last night as we will go food shopping tomorrow – it is our once a month trip to the (Walmart) Neighborhood Market two communities away to do a full shopping trip. In between we go to one of the two Walmarts nearer to us.  Normally we go to the bigger of the two as it has a larger assortment of items, but two days ago we went to the smaller of the two as an item husband needed is carried at the smaller store, but not at the larger store.  

After I post this to you I will go back and add a few more items to the shopping list, I will then go over the list with husband when he comes down later for before bed snack in case he wants something else or doesn't want something I have on the list.  I will then print it.  The list is in an Excel spreadsheet file.  I have a list of what we normally buy and which aisles the items are in, as well as a more complete list of what is in which aisle.  By scanning down the list of what we normally buy I can make sure that I have not forgotten anything.  Hoping we will find foods we are looking for.  Store shelves/cold cases are still partially empty around here – though much better than earlier in the pandemic.  

THOUGHT OF THE WEEK-
 Don't put things you need to do off until the last minute.  Had I done that with the business tax returns they would not be out on time.  If I don't do that with the food we will run out of food.  

What have you put off that you really need to?

TAXES! TAXES! TAXES!

A relatively short post this week.  It is the “end run” of tax season.

I managed to finish the last two returns for clients on Monday - out in the mail to then on Tuesday - whew!  One of them was a 2015 return for a friend of mine.  If she does not have it in the mail by Monday she will lose her refund.  Just a reminder - if you have been procrastinating and haven’t filed your 2015 return yet - you will lose your refund if you don’t file it by Monday (April 10, 2019).  If you owe taxes though - the various governments will keep trying to collect it - so file your return also.  Filing your late 2016 or 2017 returns is a good idea too!  Also it always best to file the current return - 2018 on time!  If you can’t finish it in time apply for an extension of time to file - Form 4868 from IRS, state forms vary by state.  This does not give you extra time to pay your taxes -so if you will owe taxes, try to estimate how much and send the payment along with the extension.

I have the two hardest returns left to do - ours and our little corporation.  I more or less finished ours today.  I will wait to clear to my head and check it over tomorrow and then print it out. 

Now that our return is done I can do our corporation return - some items are paid from our personal accounts for the corporation - and I have to figure out the cost of the use of our van for the corporation (which is why I have to do ours first).  Barring some strange occurrence -which if you read my posts regularly you will know we have had a lot of lately - I should have both returns finished, printed and ready to be signed and mailed in plenty of time.

Only one problem remains.  As mentioned we pay for some items from our personal accounts - particularly since the corporation does not have a credit card or have much money (I never said it was a successful business).  I have to keep track of what we paid for the corporation and sometimes what the corporation paid for us (it has an online payment account and we don’t so for rare online payments we sometimes use the corporation’s account). 

The amounts paid out by us for the corporation and paid out by the corporation for us should be the same (in reverse) on both sets of “books”.  They are not.  I spent all of last night looking for the error(s) and could not find them.  So as soon as I post this I will be back to trying to figure out what is wrong.   It is more than one error as I searched the books on both ends for the amount I am out and it does not exist.





And while writing this and working on our taxes - I am also doing the laundry!

THOUGHT FOR THE WEEK -
Remember get your income taxes done - now - don’t procrastinate.  You will be glad you did whether you get a refund or you owe you money and won’t have to pay late fees and interest if you file on time.

ARE YOU CHECKING THE FORMS COMING IN WITH INCOME, ETC. TO DO YOUR INCOME TAXES?

I was reminded yesterday that one should always check the forms that come in with income, etc.at the year end to help you prepare your income taxes.  I am sure you understand what I mean all the W2, assorted 1099s maybe some K1 forms...    NEVER ASSUME THAT EVERYTHING IS OKAY UNTIL YOU CHECK THE NUMBERS!

I thought that I was doing well, doing as I always do.  I use a bookkeeping program all year, so all I have to do is compare the totals for the year as I always do - well maybe.  Husband has an IRA at each of 2 credit unions.  (Credit unions function like banks, but the depositors own it.  Originally they were “affinity” organizations - one had to work for a certain type of company or live in a certain area to “join”; they are now allowed to have people joined who are not members of a limited group.)  We have been making withdrawals as we need to supplement our other income from one of the two credit unions - we like the other one better and the other one has slightly better interest rates. Last year, however I noticed that the IRA money in the other as his account had gone over the insured amount, so we took money from it once last year.  I keep on eye on what we might need and will have husband transfer money from a CD (fixed time saving certificate of deposit) in the IRA into a savings account in the IRA so that we always have some money not in a CD that we can go in and make a withdrawal from that account - we do this as if we withdrew money from a CD not when it renews there would be a bank penalty.

To protect the (not really) “innocent” I will refer to the credit union that we have been withdrawing from over the years as “Union A” and the other one - the one we like and just started withdrawing from - as Union B or none of this will make sense. 

For those of you not in the US - Individual Retirement Accounts (IRAs) are so that people who work and do not have a pension at work can set aside money for retirement.  I will not go into all of the details of same as you will all have headaches if I do - but basically one must be 59.5 years old or older to take out money without an IRA penalty and one pays income taxes on the money one withdraws.  The IRA can also be used if one had a pension and leaves work by one having the pension money transferred (rolled over) into a IRA (at bank, credit union. stock broker and a variety of other financial institutions).  In our case, husband’s IRAs are the rollover of his pension when he quit his job.  (This is not something called a Roth IRA - which I will not go into explaining as it has no relation to any of this.)

As an accountant I consider myself good at keeping track of our money.  Every bank statement is timely reconciled - including those for the IRAs.  I also have a (very) small IRA at Union B as I had no pension.

When the year end forms showing the income (withdrawals from) from husband’s IRA at Union
 A arrived, I looked at the amount of income (withdrawals) it showed for the year and compared it to the total in my bookkeeping software and it matched.  Remember, through 2017 we had only made withdrawals from the Union A IRA. 

Well, yesterday the paperwork arrived from Union B and I went to check it against the total in my bookkeeping software and I realized something was wrong - MAJOR WRONG.  The Union B form showed that he (we) had withdrawn three times as much as I showed we did.  Then I remembered that the entire amount withdrawn on my software was the same as what was withdrawn from Union A. I pulled out the year end Union A paperwork to figure it out. 

Remember I said that we transfer money within the IRA at Union A and also within the IRA at Union B (each credit union separately - not between the two IRAs)?  Somehow both credit unions had made a mistake in a transfer within the IRA at that credit union.  The paperwork from Union A had looked right as the amount transferred within same (from CD to savings account) happened to be equal to the withdrawal we made at Union B.  The form from Union A actually showed several thousand dollars more than we had actually withdrawn. 

At Union B we had gone in and taken money during the year (as I said, just happened to be the same amount as the transfer at Union A) and at the same time - on separate paperwork - we had transferred money within that IRA into the IRA savings account at that credit union.  So - it was by chance that the paperwork from Union A looked correct when it was not.  At Union B we had transferred twice as much as we had withdrawn - hence, since the same sort of error was made there - the paperwork showed that we had withdrawn 3 times as much as we did.

So today - after a quick “fun” stop at the doctor for followup blood test - we drove to Union A.  We went there first as in general they don’t always seem to know what they are doing and there was no paperwork for the transfer there - only a withdrawal and deposit slip.  As we thought about it and looked at the paperwork I did have, we remembered the problems the day we transferred (or thought we transferred) the money.  We had gone to the branch of Union A we normally go to - a small branch closer to us than the main branch.  There has been a very nice and competent employee there that would we wait for.  She was not there.  The fellow who was there did not have any idea what he was doing and we left and went to the main branch.  In the main branch they were having a “summer beach party” theme event (banking is not suppose to be fun - it is business).  I did not have a business card from the employee - who seemed competent at the time - and had written his name down as he did not have one. I remembered when thinking about it that it had all seemed too quick. 

When we went in today I asked for a manager or supervisor and was questioned at the reception desk as to why I needed one and told that any of the employees can do that - I told the woman at the desk, we preferred to deal with a manager to do this.  An employee came out - based on where she had come from I knew she was not a manager.  When we shook hands I asked what kind of manager she was - she was not and I repeated my request, which again, she tried to talk me out of.  We eventually met with the assistant manager. Luckily she understood and she was able to correct the error.  We are to get new paperwork - both the required paperwork for our income taxes showing the amount he received for the year and we also requested a new “summary statement” as we will need that later in year to apply for the real estate senior deduction (the one seemed not to have arrived at the township back in December).  Hopefully we will have correct copies of both in about a week. 

Oh, this manager said something that no one should every say about their business to a customer.  I had told her that we have not been happy with the credit union in general  -“Really?  How come you have not moved your account elsewhere then?”  Instead of “I am so sorry to hear that - what can we do to make it better for you?”  (Which husband basically told her - employees need better training in IRAs and don’t have event parties.”) She basically suggested to us that we should not bank with her credit union and we should move our money elsewhere!

We then drove to Union B.  I was not as concerned about dealing with the problem at same as the employee ( a very good one that we ask for when we go in) had filled in the form to have this processed correctly - it just had not been done correctly by whoever processed it.  What a difference!  We asked to speak to a manager. Other than being offered someone else to help as the manager was with a customer, there was no question about us speaking with her.  When we speaking she commented (in reference to something said) “Some customers just like to stop in and say hello to me.” 

She corrected the error - and apologized it for it.  She could not get us a replacement summary statement for the year.  She came up with an idea and printed out each account for the year, stamped it with the bank’s rubber stamp and signed it as an alternative.  So much more pleasant and not at all adversarial as the other credit union had been!

Hopefully this all is resolved now other than our receiving the amended forms.  I have now decided that whatever is going on and making us redo things a second time is some sort of curse and I don’t know where it came from or how to get rid of it.

THOUGHT FOR THE WEEK -

When you get financial papers - make sure they are correct.  Always reconcile statements.  Do the math to make sure that those W2, 1099, etc  forms to prepare your tax returns are correct - do the math.  We have not had a problem before - but this year we had two problems from 2 separate sources. 

Check things when you receive them.  Some banks will not correct statement errors after the month you receive the statement.  In this case if I had put these papers aside until I was ready to do our taxes - instead of checking right away - in addition to being concerned about getting them corrected, I might be facing a tight deadline to get them corrected to file our return.  Keep the assorted slips and papers you receive when making a deposit, transfer or withdrawal.  The more paperwork you have to back up your side if there is a problem - the better off you are - even if you scan the papers into the computer to keep them there. 

Start now keeping things organized for your 2019 taxes due in April 2020.  No - really - start now as papers come in.  I have a folder in my paid bills accordion holder marked “1099s”. Anything I receive during the year that is a form like this I toss in this folder.  I also have folders for our car and our van (both are partially business expenses) - I put receipts for cash paid for either, plus the invoices from the mechanic, etc for either, in the appropriate folder.  There is also an “accounting” folder for receipts for cash paid for same also - including receipts for parking and for subway fares when I go to clients.  At the end of the year all these folders - except the “1099" are pulled out and put in a holder I have for clients (and us) that holds the papers for taxes.  This lets me start putting in the new year’s receipts (took out 2018 papers, now can use for 2019 papers).  The “1099" folder still holds items for 2018 right now as they are coming in the mail and it is extremely rare to receive any of these forms for the current year this early in the year. 

HOW MANY THINGS CAN NEED TO BE REDONE?

I know I complain a lot.  Life used to be relatively organized.  I would do things and be done with them.  Lately everything seems to be awry.  I do things and they have to be redone.

One of the things I do in November is reserve the meeting room for the following year for my embroidery group.  This was relatively simple at first.  I would receive the paperwork in the mail early in November, fill it in, have my signature notarized and mail it back - and we had room - free - to meet in for another year. 

We had met in a series of churches over decades - back to before I joined the group in the 1990s.  (The group is around 40 years old.)  We would pay for our meeting room. The group used to be over 400 members.    The group would have workshops and interested members would pay for same which would allow the group to pay for a meeting room. Over the years members aged (with the inevitable result) and moved away.  Women were working and could not come to day meetings.  (A new group had broken off from ours and meets at night in the next county - some members belong to both groups.)  Interest in embroidery waned.  We were down to around 20 members.  I figured out (as treasurer) that in 3 years we no longer would have anything in the treasury and the group would be gone.  As I was about to sign the agreement for the next year, I noticed a mailer from the local township.  One of the parks caught my eye.  I called and asked about the use of a room for meetings.  We had just enough percentage of members who were residents of the township for a room - since we are non-profit - it would be free!  We were given space at a park other than the one I saw and we have been there for 5 years now.  The women who work in the park office have been very nice.  The first woman who ran it, however retired.  Since then it has been a bit confused in renewing the room.  Last year I did not get the form until late so I had made a note for November 1 to check with them.

October 31 I received a phone call asking for the group’s email address.  I called back and left it on voice mail.  A week later, nothing had come and I had not heard from anyone.  I called back in case my voice mail had gone astray and was given someone else’s voice mail and left the info again.  Another week - I called and was told that the forms would be out shortly. The next week was Thanksgiving.  I was telephoned the day before same by the woman who used to run the department who again asked for my email - I told her the story and she apologized.  She called back later to check which park we meet in.  Thank goodness it was all finally going to be done with!  On Tuesday the next week I received the paperwork by email.  I filled it in.  Wednesday I went to the bank and had the paperwork notarized and on Thursday mailed it back.  All done, finally, how great.

The following Tuesday I had a telephone message when we got home from errands, basically, sorry. another group meets in that room then.  Hmmm, we meet in that room then, maybe the nice former director had filled us in already on some chart or form?  I called her back the next morning.  No - another group was meeting at an overlapping time to ours - and she had a different location for us to met.  I questioned how this had happened.  The other group got their paperwork in first.  I told her the story of trying to get the paperwork and how unfair that someone else had, apparently gotten their paperwork earlier than us and taken our space.  I also explained that we were a group of “old ladies” - which we are, at 65 I am the youngest - and I was afraid that finding the other park would be too hard for them.  She hmmmed a bit.  Then said that since we only meet once a month and the other group meets more often maybe she could get them to give up the room for the once a month.  She did and we have the room back for next year.

Totally unrelated - and dealing with the county instead of the township - husband and I are entitled to a reduction in our real estate taxes due to our age and income.  I started collecting information for the paperwork in January - well I actually collected some during 2017.  I had to telephone our medical insurance companies for last year (which we had 4 of do to R switching to Medicare partway through the year) and get printouts of the premiums paid to them - listed by month paid.  Of course one only gave a total and I to keep after them for the correct info.  I also had to get listings of what we paid for prescriptions (Walmart pharmacy was the easiest of all the info needed for me to get) and the dentist and doctors from the providers themselves.  I did not bother with the doctors as payments to them were minor.  We have to get statements from who we paid - canceled checks are not accepted.

In late August I received the renewal papers from the county (we had gone through all this last year for the first time).  I filled them in and continued to chase down missing information.  While husband was incapacitated I finished the forms and started making the photocopies I needed to give them - photocopies of income, of the medical expenses, etc.  I wrote a summary of what I was giving them.  I wrote a cover letter.  We mailed it out certified mail (almost $7 postage) on November 27 - and received the information that it had been delivered and signed for on November 29.  We sat back to wait to hear from the county in April - maybe earlier if they wanted some other information.

Monday night we got a robocall from the county executive that we have not yet filled the renewal for our exemption! We panicked.  Tuesday I was taking my mom to her doctor and I called before I left for her house.  I got a voice mail setup and left my information and asked them to PLEASE call back and let me know if they were missing our application - knowing that they would not call back.  Oh, well, this was better than last year.  Last year when I called for information their telephone number was continually answered by voice mail that said, basically, we are too busy to answer the phone - goodby, although after calling for several weeks the message was changed by adding - that there is not enough parking here, so don’t come either.  While mom was in with her doctor I called again.  This time there was a message that people were called who should not have been called and - the message only applied to those over 65 and if one had receipt from them for the paperwork given, they were fine.  It offered a chance to talk to exemptions (overall I was calling the county tax assessor’s office) and I did so - same message as in the morning and I again asked to PLEASE let me know if they have our paperwork - just leave the message on our answering machine, they did not even have to talk to us.

Local news last night talked about the robocall error  - it showed the lines that people were on for 2 hours due to the call - as did the local paper today - 400,000 called instead of something liked 50,000!  But again it was said that as long as one had a receipt from them there was no problem.

Well, we only have the proof of delivery from the post office.  So being crazy people - we copied all the supporting paperwork, reprinted the forms and resigned everything and reassembled it all.  Tomorrow morning we will be going to the county assessor’s office.  Hopefully the crowds will no longer be there having heard on the news or read in the newspaper what the situation is and we will get in fairly quickly - perhaps even told that of course they have the application and paperwork.  But I anticipate a long wait to get in and who knows what has happened to our original paperwork.  Husband will drop me off and try to find a parking space - there are a lot of parking lots (free) but in addition to the county office buildings (at least 3 I know of) there are the courts (at least 2 buildings), general office buildings in the area and the train station which serves 2 train lines, so parking is not easy - which is why we mailed it in the first place.

Does this happen to everyone - or just us?

THOUGHT OF THE WEEK -

Always get a receipt.  Always follow up. Always make and keep copies (or give copies if you can and keep the originals).  Never assume that all is going well.  Do this for smaller things also, but especially for big important things.

UPDATE -

Even with all this going on, I managed to take more of my required tax courses and now have finished 14 of the required 20. I have a left a 6 hour (credits) course that has a 3 hour exam.  This exam is timed and has to be completed at one sitting, so I will have to set aside an evening alone in our office to take the exam - I do get 3 chances, but I have not yet (in past years) needed more than one attempt.