Could things possibly get any worse UGH!

 Cat,

I hope your days are getting better. Stress can really take a toll on a person, so even if it is just 5 or 10 minutes, take some time out for yourself to just relax. Listen to music, take a hot bath, or just sit in silence. You deserve it and it can really help!

Cat,

::putting on former accountant's hat::

Do you know what kind of audit? It should say on the letter from IRS. If it's a TCMP audit, it's not anything you or he did or didn't do - it's a "(bad) luck of the draw" kind of thing. The bad part is that it is a point by point audit. We never had a client with a TCMP audit, but colleagues have told us that it was definitely a challenge.

You have an accountant, right? Is he/she an enrolled agent? Did they do the taxes for 2007? If yes one or more of these questions, let them handle the audit. Even if they didn't prepare the taxes for 2007, ask them about representing you for it. That's their job. If your accountant handles the audit - neither you nor your husband should go! IRS doesn't like to see an accountant/EA/CPA go to an audit and if the taxpayer goes, even if the accountant has a power of attorney for the taxes, the IRS won't speak to the accountant. They want the taxpayer to volunteer information to dig themselves in deeper!

Yep - if it wasn't a joint return, they won't speak to you because they ARE his taxes. They are very good at citing privacy laws to their advantage. They won't admit it, but they want the taxpayer at a disadvantage. They can audit up to 7 years back legally and as far as they want IF they discover something in their initial audit.

I'm not trying to scare you - just that I know what they do and sometimes knowing is a good part of the battle. ::taking off former accountant's hat::

Worker's comp claim - just another reason why I refuse to have employees until I absolutely have no choice. Sounds like WC needs to be investigating that guy for fraud! I know in AZ, about every 3 years, one of the local TV stations does an expose on WC and fraud. I just love seeing these guys with "terrible injuries" hauling bricks for paving their back yard, or playing football in the street with their kids and the rest of the neighborhood! Busted! If WC won't do anything, maybe you could call one of the local TV channels' investigative reporters?

I can see why you would be so frustrated with your daughter being sick. Is she feeling better now? Saw on the news the other day that they aren't worried about fever being the determining factor for contaigion of H1N1, but are saying that as long as the patient is COUGHING, they should be considered contaigious.Keeping my fingers crossed that Mike and I don't get it. We have hand sanitizers all over the store for customers to use.

Al I can tell you is hang in there. I used to have a little poster up by my desk in the accounting office that said, "Eat a live toad every morning and nothing worse will happen to you the rest of the day." Every time I have stretches of crises like yours, I remember that poster and remember that it could be worse!

hugs,

Deb

 (((BIG HUGS)))

I know you will pull thru this somehow. I really hope they catch the false comp claims guy quick. And i hope ur daughter gets better fast.

Debs suggestions sound good :)

Don't forget to take at least 10mins a day to destress and relax.

When life gives you lemons, make lemonade!

 Thanks everyone!

I'm feeling better now. I still have all this to deal with but I'm picking it apart a little at a time. Just seemed like everything was snowballing at once and I get a bit overwhelmed. I've stayed at my Mom's this week and it helps just being "away" even if her house is 500 ft from me :)

I've gotten a lot of beading done and that's good stress relief. Well a lot for me at least. I'll share when I finally get pics done.

Cat :

 Thanks everyone!

I'm feeling better now. I still have all this to deal with but I'm picking it apart a little at a time. Just seemed like everything was snowballing at once and I get a bit overwhelmed. I've stayed at my Mom's this week and it helps just being "away" even if her house is 500 ft from me :)

I've gotten a lot of beading done and that's good stress relief. Well a lot for me at least. I'll share when I finally get pics done.

Cat,

Picking it apart bit by bit is the way to go. It's like eating an elephant. You don't think you can do it, but if you go at it a bite at a time, pretty soon your plate's clean!

Hang in there - it will get better.

Deb

Deb :

 It's like eating an elephant. You don't think you can do it, but if you go at it a bite at a time, pretty soon your plate's clean!

 

 Interesting analogy to say the least! *rotflmao* I AM definitely going to have to remember that one!

 I'm glad that you are feeling better Cat, and I hope it continues to get better.

 Billy ;o)

Sorry, Cat, but I am a bit late on this thread! This all sounds so bad and just too much at one time. I hope you get out of that hole very soon. I can feel for you when you have the feeling that everything is a bit too much and all comes at once.

My thoughts are with you and your family and I hope everything will turn out at its best for you. And if you need to vent more, you have my email addy, ok?

Good, I'm glad you're doing a little better Cat.  You're such a strong person for everyone else, it's nice to know you can go to your mother's house and just relax some.  I hope things at home are improving too, your kid's feel better, cash flow improves, all of it.  I'm still sending lots of prayers and good thoughts!

Pam

Cat,

I am glad to hear that it is getting a bit better each day. Small steps, small steps. As long as things are moving forward, it is all good. Please, please take care of youself in the process.

Courtney

sorry to hear about your troubles. i was off line as we just moved into a house (after 5 years in a 5th wheel). hope things continue to work out for the best.

 Ok I have been working bit by bit on all the previously mentioned things but since it's already raining, the floods are coming in.

The refridgerator and freezer are no longer keeping anything cold. Everything in the fridge has basically spoiled and everything in the freezer is starting to thaw out. I put what I could in our deep freeze but it's not a very large one to begin with.

My van has gone kerplunk for the second time in a few months. The last time it broke down I left it sit for a week and when I started it back up it was running fine again. My brother did change the fuel filter so that could have been part of the problem. Now I don't know what's wrong with it. At first I thought it maybe the transmission since it was jerking pretty bad when it would change gears, then it started doing what it was doing a few months back. Whenever I would be driving, the RPM's would start flying up and down but I couldn't get it to go if I pressed on the gas. Now if I even try starting it, the rpm's go crazy and it feels like the engine has grown wings and it's ready for lift off.

My husband failed to tell me that in the audit we are having they are coming to the house to check out the office. I know if office in home deduction. Are these people nuts? Like if we had the option the freaking office wouldn't be in our house! I would have my own multi-media room where we could watch movies, craft or whatever we wanted. No, it's filled with 2 desks and computers, filing cabinets, long tables for fax/printers, files I frequently use......PITA IRS! Come and check all you want!

Sorry venting again, not having a good day!

Cat,

Sorry I can't fix your van - maybe you need to threaten it with a 5 lb sledge hammer? It always helped when my Bronco went on the fritz! <LOL>

For the fridge - a thought - did you clean the coils? Underneath and the back? Sometimes an accumulation of dust and dust bunnies will make the fridge act up. Wal-Mart used to have (might still have) the brushes for cleaning lint out of the dryer. You can also use them on a fridge. Otherwise, cheer up - it will be colder soon and you can just put stuff in the garage and it will stay nice and cold all winter! <wicked grin>

On the audit and your office in home expense - it sounds like you have that part squared away. I'd tend to agree with you - bring it on IRS! However, BE SURE that you have absolutely NOTHING that is not business related in that space. If you do beading in there, I'd find a place to stash everything until the audit was over. (HOWEVER - if you have been claiming the beading business on your taxes, that's a different story. But then, don't have beading stuff anywhere but in the office! It wouldn't hurt to have a copy of the sched C for the beading business on hand, too.) Be sure there are no videos, homework papers, kid's toys, slippers - nothing that is not 100% business related in that room. IRS loves to throw this one out, because it was abused by so many people who would use a TV tray in a corner of the bedroom and try to write off half of the house or the ones who actually had an office away from home available to them and took the office in home expense, too!

Hang in there, we're thinking of you!

Deb

 Well I did some trouble shooting on the fridge last night. I've already thought about the coils and tried vaccuming under and on the back. That didn't work (I did this last week). Reading up on a few Fix it yourself sites I was going through different things that could be wrong. I couldn't actually do anything last night because I didn't have enough light the way my fridge sits.

But I did come across something when I checked the FIY site for Maytag. There was a recall this year in March for......

"An electrical failure in the relay, the component that turns on the refrigerator's compressor, can cause overheating and pose a serious fire hazard."

See it sounds like everything is running okay but it's not cold. The other day I thought I smelled plastic burning but I couldn't find anything in the house and with so many electronics running all the time it's hard to tell where it was coming from. So I figured if I see something smoking I would know for sure. Well of course, thankfully, nothing ever turned up smoking so I never figured out what it was. I am hoping the recall is what is wrong with our refridgerator. We paid $1600 for that thing when we bought the house in 2003 so there's no reason why it should be failing already. We have a large family, the reason we need a large fridge. I was looking on Craigslist for a cheap used one until we could figure out what was wrong with ours. The used larger ones were still an arm and a leg so I think the recall was a blessing in disguise, HOPEFULLY!

The IRS- well I have a few things I would like to tell them, like where they can shove it. I do have my beading stuff in there and while it's only a 6' table with everything stashed on top and under, I am taking it out this weekend. I am doing a thorough clean out so I make sure there is nothing personal in there. I do know that about the office in home. In reality though, you can go into any office, even in "workplace" offices and find personal belongings...pictures of family, snacks hidden away in a desk, but I am still going to rid the office of any of this stuff. Cleaning off my bulletin boards too, yes I have the teacher's number's posted because they are in school while I am working so I have access to it. It's frustrating that people abused it so badly that it comes this. The office in our home is the office and that's it really. Yes I pay bills occasionally on the computer, my camera stays under my long table that holds the fax machine, frequently used files, and some other tidbits but the office is strictly for business and like I said, I would rather be in a separate building but we don't have that choice. I could have an entire room to beading if it wasn't for the business.

ON top of it- The guy from the IRS called last week and was pretty rude to Steve to begin with. Steve was getting loaded to go to Washington when he called and he basically wanted Steve to drop everything and meet. Steve firmly told him, I am in my truck getting loaded to go to Washington, you have to wait until I get back. Appointment was set for October 5th. This guy was supposed to send us the paperwork for everything we needed. Here it is Monday- one week away from the audit and we still have not received anything. He called the business line today and asked for Steve, which he was getting loaded to go to Chicago tonight. Of course he wouldn't tell me who he was so I told him I would give him the number when he returned in two hours. He basically got rude with me and said "it is imperitive he returns my call". Well you a** h**e if he doesn't want to return a call to a NO NAME I can't do anything about it. Steve called him when he got back and of course got voicemail. Later in the day we got a FAX, not an official mailing of notice of audit and the paperwork we need to have ready for him in a week. IN a week- Mind you I am the only person in the office. I do everything myself and I was currently working on getting stuff to the accountant for 2008! Like I can just drop everything to get a slew of paperwork, receipts, and more from 2006-2008 in a week. This guy is really making me angry and I would love to speak to one of his superiors. Not that it would help but I think I may just drag this one for months and say, OOPS, I'M LOOKING FOR IT, SINCE I ONLY HAD A WEEK!

UGH!!!!!

Thanks for letting me scream again!

Cat, this is awful, I'm so sorry to hear this is all still falling on your head.  I wish I could do something to help in addition to praying.  I can't even offer advice, I don't know what I would do if the IRS were doing that to me.  When are the books due at the accountants?  The only thing I can think of is to ask the IRS if they could wait until that's done.  As for your refrigerator, I hope the recall applies to yours. 

Pam

Cat,

This guy is WAY over the top - everything the IRS does has to be done with accompanying paperwork - faxes must be followed with a hard copy (usually certified when an audit is involved). And there must be a certain time frame for notices. He is definitely not following procedure. IRS has a taxpayer ombudsman, give them a call and see if they can get you a little relief on this.

I do know what you mean about "real" offices having personal stuff. Shoot, we practically live at the store, so we have a kitchen, TV, and even our sleeping bags (don't ask), but there is no doubt that it is a business. If you have the kids' school number, potted plants, photos and other stuff you'd see in a "real" office, that's not a problem. It's when your office gets combined with your guest room/craft room/kids' playroom uses that gets sticky. Not having seen your office, but from your description, your office sounds more squared away than most of the office in home setups I've seen!

I don't remember our clients ever getting hit with an audit that wasn't within a week or so of a tax deadline. I think they time these things on purpose - they know you haven't filed 2008 and are on deadline for that, so add stress of an audit to that. "We're from the IRS and we're here to help you" - BS!!!

I would definitely call the ombudsman and see if they can intervene for you and get someone who understands procedures and maybe get the audit postponed for a few weeks to give you time to file 2008!

Wish I could come up with more to help!

Deb