small adventures in tax preparation
Feb. 5th, 2016 10:18 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
edenfallingSome incidents from the last two weeks:
1) There is a software glitch that won't let us e-file NY returns which include a particular state credit. It is a really nice credit. It would be terrible not to let people use it when they meet the qualifications, but using it bollixes everything. What do??? We put all the affected returns on indefinite hold. After two days, somebody discovers a workaround that involves adding a space and a single letter to one particular input field. Nobody knows why this works. We are just grateful that it does. (The glitch itself is still not fixed.)
2) My electronic signature pad is broken. Plaza Boss calls tech support to fix it. The next day my electronic signature pad is so oversensitive it registers 'writing' any time the magnetic pen gets within a half inch of its screen. This is not helpful.
3) All the IRS computers crash. They can't accept electronic returns for two days; everything piles up at our own filing center. Fuck.
4) Mall Boss loses her key. We cannot open the office. Three other coworkers have keys: one is unavailable for the next three hours, one has also lost his key, and the third is working in another office half an hour away. Double fuck. (We give the first customer of the day a discount for the resulting delay. We also need to replace all the office locks.)
5) Why am I preparing returns for people who worked in Pennsylvania, moved to New York from [other state] halfway through the year, or are still officially residents of [yet another state]? I am not trained for multi-state!
6) Ah, I see that you are a returning client and your previous tax return was extremely simple and well within my qualifications to prepare. How nice to meet you! So, has anything changed since last year? *client pulls out giant sheaf of papers* "Well, I started an online business..." NO. YOU STOP RIGHT THERE. (I am willing to fight Schedule C on my own behalf. I am not trained to accurately and effectively fight it for other people.)
...
I am having fun, really! But every job has its share of utter WTF, and this particular one has to cram a year's worth of crazy into only four months. It is an interesting ride. *wry*
1) There is a software glitch that won't let us e-file NY returns which include a particular state credit. It is a really nice credit. It would be terrible not to let people use it when they meet the qualifications, but using it bollixes everything. What do??? We put all the affected returns on indefinite hold. After two days, somebody discovers a workaround that involves adding a space and a single letter to one particular input field. Nobody knows why this works. We are just grateful that it does. (The glitch itself is still not fixed.)
2) My electronic signature pad is broken. Plaza Boss calls tech support to fix it. The next day my electronic signature pad is so oversensitive it registers 'writing' any time the magnetic pen gets within a half inch of its screen. This is not helpful.
3) All the IRS computers crash. They can't accept electronic returns for two days; everything piles up at our own filing center. Fuck.
4) Mall Boss loses her key. We cannot open the office. Three other coworkers have keys: one is unavailable for the next three hours, one has also lost his key, and the third is working in another office half an hour away. Double fuck. (We give the first customer of the day a discount for the resulting delay. We also need to replace all the office locks.)
5) Why am I preparing returns for people who worked in Pennsylvania, moved to New York from [other state] halfway through the year, or are still officially residents of [yet another state]? I am not trained for multi-state!
6) Ah, I see that you are a returning client and your previous tax return was extremely simple and well within my qualifications to prepare. How nice to meet you! So, has anything changed since last year? *client pulls out giant sheaf of papers* "Well, I started an online business..." NO. YOU STOP RIGHT THERE. (I am willing to fight Schedule C on my own behalf. I am not trained to accurately and effectively fight it for other people.)
...
I am having fun, really! But every job has its share of utter WTF, and this particular one has to cram a year's worth of crazy into only four months. It is an interesting ride. *wry*
(no subject)
Date: 2016-02-06 04:44 pm (UTC)Customer: Hi! I'm going through a terrible, acrimonious divorce and need to file MFS.
Me: ...Great! Did I mention that you'll need your ex to give you all their financial information anyway? Because our state makes you do that! Even for your federal taxes!
Also, my state has a weird glitch on one of the main credits where we basically have to put in the information backwards (qualified months and *then* name, when it's built the other way around) for it to calculate correctly. This isn't even listed in "Known issues".
(no subject)
Date: 2016-02-06 05:52 pm (UTC)Sometimes I really wonder about the priorities behind what does and doesn't make it onto the 'Known Issues' list.