QUESTION

Do I have right to ask my accountant how much was suppose to be tax refund?

Asked on Mar 22nd, 2013 on Taxation - Alabama
More details to this question:
I am working 1099 and my husband working for W2, we are in a middle of divorce, and as far as I know, we have to file our taxes together until we will be officially divorced. He filed our taxes without me and now he want me to give him back some amount of money which was mu deductions from IRS (which what taken from his refund), but amount for me seems to high and I told him what, his respond was: "Me and my accountant calculated that and that's it." How can I find out real amount of his refund before any deductions? Help me please, thank you.
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2 ANSWERS

Bruce Givner
You have the right to ask your accountant how much your refund is supposed to be. If you filed jointly with your husband, your CPA should certainly inform you about that return.
Answered on Mar 25th, 2013 at 12:45 AM

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Tax Law Attorney serving Birmingham, AL at Meadows & Howell, LLC
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The first issue I see is that you are of the impression that you must continue to file jointly with him until you are officially divorced. You always have the option of filing under the "married filing separately" status. You do not have to file a joint return with him. However, you may want to crunch the numbers to see whether it would be more beneficial to you to file separately, or if it would be better to file jointly. There are many factors that would need to be taken into account. Are you paying quarterly taxes on your 1099 income? If not, do you save money to pay at the end of the year? If you do neither, then it would likely be beneficial to file jointly, as your husband would be the only one withholding and paying taxes, which would offset anything you owe when filing jointly. Filing separately would also affect who could claim the children (if there are any) as dependents, and thus reduce your or his tax liabilities. These are issues that would be best addressed by an accountant, and yes, you do have the ability to request an explanation as to how the numbers were figured on a return which includes your name, information, and tax liability. Afterall, you have to sign the return in order to file it, and signing a return acknowledges the accuracy and completeness of it. If the accountant continues to refuse to give you any information, documentation, or explain anything, then you may want to speak with the Alabama State Board of Public Accountancy (http://www.asbpa.alabama.gov/Complaints.htm) and the I.R.S. (http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/f14157.pdf) regarding why an accountant is refusing to show and explain your own return that he or she has prepared. These would essentially be complaints of the preparer refusing to return records or information.
Answered on Mar 24th, 2013 at 11:49 PM

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