By Rowe Ray
Managing Editor
— If it’s tax season, then you can bet it’s also time for the Better Business Bureau to begin warning taxpayers about the pitfalls of choosing the wrong preparation service.
And if we’re not careful, those warnings begin to go in one ear and out the other without a great deal of thought in between.
And so it might have been this year, too, until one of our co-workers ran head-on into the kind of service the BBB has been talking about.
After turning in all the necessary tax forms, the co-worker was told by phone that the refund to which he was entitled was about $1,800.
Not bad.
But when another co-worker paid a visit to the tax service with some questions, it suddenly turned out the refund was double that amount.
Just an honest mistake? Perhaps. Perhaps not
A story on page one of today’s edition provides some simple and timely guidelines for choosing someone to help prepare those IRSâtax forms.
Most of these tax services are honest, professional and will do a fine job for their clients.
But when it comes to tax preparation, it pays to do your homework. And it could cost you not to. RHR
