If you have questions about the upcoming tax season, you can Ask the taxgirl®!
Yes, there are rules and caveats. What did you expect? I am, after all, an attorney. Attorneys love rules. And caveats. And chocolate. For now, we’re focusing on rules and caveats:
- I get a lot of questions and I read all of them. Trust me: you haven’t sent the only email I’ll get today. I try to choose questions to answer that are the most helpful to the most readers. If you don’t see your question, please don’t resend it. I could be researching it. I could be saving it. I could be clueless. There’s a lot that goes into choosing what gets posted. Please be patient.
- I rarely answer specific state or local tax questions. I just can’t. As much as I’d love to help, I just don’t know the specific property tax laws in Petaluma or the sales tax rules in Peoria. So you can try but don’t be surprised if you don’t see your question pop up.
- I like to talk about being a tax attorney. You can ask questions about that, too. But don’t ask me for a job, an internship, a reference, a letter for your mother. I won’t answer you.
- Keep your personally identifiable information out of your question. This is the internet, remember? If you say things like “I’m the only doctor in my town and my wife is blind,” folks may know it’s you. I’m not going to redact your questions. So use a little common sense. That means no names, no phone numbers, or email addresses in your post, and for the love of chocolate, no Social Security numbers. Just don’t.
- Also keep in mind that I will not and cannot call the IRS and find out where your rebate checks are, why your refunds aren’t what you expected, or why your return wasn’t accepted as filed. Notwithstanding that I can’t do those things anyway without a Power of Attorney, I’m not your tax attorney unless and until you have a representation letter from me. So please don’t ask.
- I have a spam filter. I have to. Mostly because of, well, you know, evil spammers. My spam filter will almost always dump your email into spam if your email doesn’t have a subject. Try including a word or two in the subject to tell me what your question is about, like “mortgage interest question” or “I don’t have my 1099” – it will help make sure that the emails end up where they need to be. Make sure that you send it to the right address (askthetaxgirl@taxgirl.com).
- I’ve had it with Facebook notifications. Don’t get me wrong: I love Facebook (you can find my Taxgirl page here) but inevitably, the notifications don’t work and I miss your messages. So if you have a time-sensitive issue – like, oh, before tax season – make sure to email, not message me on Facebook.
- If you think you’re being clever by sending your advertisement/promotion/tax treatise/election propaganda wrapped up in the guise of a question, you’re not. Don’t pitch me using AskTheTaxgirl. Don’t try to sell me stuff. It’s annoying. And rude.
- If you’re actually sitting in an audit or jail, I can’t stress enough how much you need to put down the computer and find yourself a good tax professional right now. Run, do not walk, to the phone and call someone to help you.
- I reserve the right to add more rules and caveats as we go along, so check back often.
And yes, Taxgirl® is my brand. It’s who I am. Don’t be fooled by similar monikers or whatnot. I’m pretty easy to find and happy to help.
Thanks for reading!
