While in college my mother shared a memory about her father sitting at their kitchen table doing their taxes on paper with a pen (using a pencil with an eraser meant that you were planning on making a mistake).
The concept of using a computer to prepare a tax return only really became common practice in the late 90s. Today over 90% of returns are filed electronically. Of that remaining 10%, the majority are still done using a computer, they’re just mailed in rather than being e-filed. Just because it’s a relatively new concept, doesn’t mean it’s a good idea to still be sitting at your table with a pen and paper.
Fortunately, this isn’t a problem for most but, for the ones that it is, it’s a big enough problem for me to want to write about it. While I’ll meet with a few hundred clients each year, I’ve only had 3 clients come in this year for problems relating to returns that were done by hand. The first two had the type of problems you’re probably expecting to hear about: deductions weren’t calculated properly, things were left off, phaseouts were ignored, and things weren’t properly carried over between years. The other one however is something most people don’t realize is a potential problem.
When you mail in a tax return someone at the IRS will have to manually enter your information into their system. In many cases this is a low-level clerk who is underpaid and overworked. Unfortunately, any system run by humans is susceptible to human error. Handwritten numbers can be misread. Even if it’s not handwritten, there could still be a typo or misread. These errors can result in surprise bills from the IRS or missed deductions that could cost you thousands and may not be easily resolved.
If you prepare your taxes by hand, please consider a different method next year. If you’ve gotten a letter from the IRS or your state taxing authority, contact me today so we can discuss resolving your tax problem.
Joseph Orabona
Vector Tax & Accounting LLC
576 Elm St.
Windsor Locks, CT 06096
(860) 580-5183
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