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That conversation with my accountant that saved me 3 months of tax headache
Last year I thought I had my freelance taxes figured out. I'd been doing them myself for 5 years and never had an issue. Then I hit a snag with a 1099 from a client in another state. I spent 2 full weeks Googling, calling the IRS help line, and re-reading tax forms. Nothing made sense. Finally a friend made me talk to her accountant. He explained in 10 minutes that I needed to file a non-resident return for that state. I had been panicking over nothing. The whole thing took 3 months from the first confusion to actually getting it filed. What's the dumbest tax mistake you've made that cost you way more time than it should have?
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kim.jake1mo ago
Paid my accountant with Monopoly money once.
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Laughed out loud at the Monopoly money thing - I almost did that myself but with fake Venmo payments! My dumbest tax mistake was claiming my cat as a dependent because I read somewhere that pets could be dependents if they provided "emotional support." Spent hours filling out the form, even gave her a fake social security number. The IRS letter I got back was hilariously polite but very clear that Mittens is not a qualifying child or relative. That whole fiasco took me about 6 weeks and $50 in late fees.
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williams.sage1mo ago
Wait, you actually gave her a fake SSN? I gotta know, did you just make up a number or use something random like 123-45-6789? I feel like that would be the kind of thing that gets you flagged instantly lol.
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