The End Of Tax Season

The end of tax season is almost here, and it can't get here fast enough, this year has been a little crazy. For example, early in the season, when the W-2's start coming out, we call that peak. In the previous 2 seasons, the returns I did were just W-2's with dependents, nothing else, and these are really easy returns. The customer usually wants a bank product also, because our fees come out of their check, and they usually have a big Earned Income Credit, so the refunds are in the $2,000-6000 range. These returns take 20-30 minutes to do. We do a lot of returns in this time. And for the record, I have never, or will I ever, push a bank product on a client. I just explain the options. Most clients know which bank product they want before they even come in the door.

For some reason though, this season I had much harder returns during peak, and the clients paid their fee up front and had the IRS send their refund. I'm not complaining, I love to do tough returns, it was unusual though, because we don't start getting these types of returns until later in the season. When I mean tough returns, I mean a lot of deductions, depreciation, and things like that, where it takes more than an hour to do.

Anyway, my last day is the 16th, because I have to close the office. It will be my 9th straight day, which is fine with me, more money on my last check before I move. My guess is I've done about 150 returns or so this season, give or take a few. The office is close to 500.

And a last minute tip, you still have until tomorrow to contribute to your IRA and lower the amount of tax you pay.

Tim