Surviving Tax Season: It's Not Over Yet

Kelly Erb Phillips for Forbes writes: It’s not over yet, folks.  While many of you have already filed your federal income tax returns for 2012, more than 10 million taxpayers are expected to file a return on extension in October (including me and likely, Mitt Romney). There are legitimate reasons why taxpayers need time beyond April 15 to file. One of the most common reasons is a situation like mine where income does not come from the usual suspects like forms W-2 and 1099-INT. Self-employment income, interests in pass through entities like partnerships, limited liability companies and s corporations, last minute retirement account contributions, and receipt of distributions from a trust or estate all make filing complicated and generally delayed. Fortunately, filing for extension gives you a six month extension of the original time to file. For 2013, the key date is October 15: taxpayers who timely requested an extension have until that day to file their federal income tax return without a late filing penalty.

The October 15 deadline comes on the heels of another important extension date: September 16 (since September 15, 2013, fell on a Sunday). September 16 marks the day that corporate tax returns (and a few related forms) on extension were due. About half of all businesses will file for some kind of extension. Corporate extensions include practically the whole series of forms 1120 (including C, F, FSC, H, L, ND, PC, POL, REIT, RIC, S and SF), certain excise tax returns and a few oddities like the form 1041-N, U.S. Income Tax Return for Electing Alaska Native Settlement Trusts thrown in for good measure. And no, you won’t see the regular form 1065 on the list: partnerships or entities electing partnership status only get a five month extension.

That means that chances are, your favorite tax professional has been working pretty steadily over the past couple of weeks. And the work load won’t let up until after October 15 (but then, it’s time for year end planning).

It’s a cycle that tax professionals are sort of used to by now.

Except this year, it feels different.

Tax professionals all over the country have reached out to tell me that they’re tired. They’re frustrated. They feel beaten down. Some want out of the game. Talk of early retirement has peppered conversations with a frequency I’ve never experienced before. It is, in a word, dispiriting.

It’s been a rough tax year for all of us. Tax season got off to a delayed start. Despite the setback, thedue date remained the same, making it a shorter season. Compressing all of those returns into a shorter time span meant that IRS was overwhelmed. The result? Delayed refunds. Thateducation credit snafu that went on far too long. And generally angry taxpayers.

Taxpayers voiced their frustrations – many directly at their tax professionals. Some screamed. Some were just nasty. Others refused to pay their bills.

But the consequences of this tax season? Your tax professional didn’t do those things to you. You. Your tax preparer. Your bookkeeper. Your tax counsel. We’ll all on the same team.

I get that nobody wants to pay taxes. And I get that the Tax Code is becoming more complicated. And I get that people are genuinely angry at the IRS.

But you shouldn’t shoot the messenger.

This summer, we took our annual trip to Maine – for the first time, my parents and my brother came along. My oldest daughter had been looking forward to it for months (she had been packed for about two weeks before we left). And then she got sick. On vacation. We ended up in the emergency room where she was eventually diagnosed with pneumonia. There was no way around it: it sucked. But we didn’t yell at the doctor. Or the nurses. Or the radiologist. They didn’t give her the pneumonia. They were just trying to help (and for what it’s worth, the whole staff at the Bridgton Hospital ER was fantastic). A few tests and some hefty meds later, we were on our way home for some rest and hopefully, getting better.

Tax professionals do the same kind of thing. They’re there to help you figure out your next steps – diagnose any problems and get you moving again. It’s not always fun. But they’re doing the best they can.

So, if you’re one of those folks on your way to see your tax professional this season to finish up your returns, do me a favor and be nice. Be patient. Smile. Maybe even bring along a cup of coffee. Or a bottle of wine (again, that kind of season).

But if you want to scream about your tax bill, call this number: 202.456.1111. That’s the number to the White House. You can also email or send a letter via the Post Office to The White House, 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW,Washington, DC 20500.

Or contact your Senator. Or your Representative.

Those are the folks who should be on your rant radar. Not your tax professional.

It’s been a tough tax season for all of us. We’re heading down the home stretch. Let’s see if we can end it on a better note than we started.