Mea Culpa!!!!!

I really should have thought about this when I was presenting the results of studies on what tax programs folks can use.  (To recap- if you are at the 50% income level or below (~$66K or below), there are free programs that let you file your taxes.  [Note:  Many of them actually charge for state filing; it’s just the federal filing that’s free.]  One offering is great if you don’t itemize; if you do, these folks recommend that you choose another.  But, if you an unincorporated  business, own (all or part of) an established business (that requires separate tax filing), possess a moderate-to-large stock portfolio, own a rental home or building… then you need our services.)

Except!

Those free tax services are only free because they use your data to sell you something.  Yes, if something is free, it means we must be the product.  And, for not warning you about this, I plead guilty.

(We have also rescinded our refusal to offer tax services to those who can obtain same for free- we will NEVER use your data or divulge it to another. Because if you are going to pay $ 50 to $ 150 for simple tax preparation- we are better.  [We know more, we question more, we seek more avenues to protect your income] and, for such simple taxes, we charge the same or less.]

So, whenever we use a ‘free service’, we should be thinking – who else gets this data.  And, what data are these folks collecting.  (When it comes to tax filing, the short answer is everything!  Not quite all our health data- but our health insurance provider and the insurance plan… )  Moreover, how long do these folks keep our data- and how secure can we feel that they will protect said data.  (Other than selling it to the highest bidder- which with our tax data is theoretically illegal- but  we should recognize that the one who collects the data may not be the one who lets our data leak!)

For example, Credit Karma targets you with advertising based upon your earning level and mortgage interest that you pay.  And, they don’t limit their tax services to those at the median income or below.  They need you to buy into their credit card push or loans to make their ends meet.  OK- to make a ton of money- to the tune of say $ 50 to $ 500 for each referral.  (Yes, this is considered to be legal.  Read the first sentence of the paragraph above.  Yes, I know the IRS forbids tax preparers from selling or sharing our tax data without our express consent.  But, you did read the fine print that ‘free’ tax provider offered, right?  That includes the fact that they will retain your data for a decade- yes, 10 years.)

Credit Karma (hereinafter, CK) claims it doesn’t sell our data.  (I have no reason to doubt this- yet.)  But, they do target us on their website.  They do sell us services to ‘improve’ our credit score (which they conveniently accessed as we provided them our tax data).  Which is why marketing firms pay CK money to be placed on their website and via their service offerings- because CK has removed most of the waste from the marketing process.  (Folks can target married, single, who has kids, what income level, etc.)

I did know that H&R Block and Intuit use their free service as part of a bait and switch- to upsell you to one of their more pricier offerings.  (Intuit, for example, suggests you should upload your data to “Turbo”, where you obtain ‘personalized’ advice for loans and credit cards.)  But, I considered that acceptable.  After all, when you come to us to help you file your business taxes, we routinely suggest what you can be doing better, how you can obtain more profits.  (We do hope you contract with us to achieve said results.)

Now, that I’ve cleared up that confusion…

If you have an LLC, partnership, or S entity- the clock runs out this Friday.  Better get those tax records ready- and to a tax preparer.  (We have a secure site for you to upload that data right now.  Contact us and we’ll give you access.)

If you have a C Corporation, manage a trust, or are filing personal taxes, you have 35 days.   (Some states have later deadlines, like the 1 May deadline for  Commonwealth of Virginia residents.)

Tick.  Tock…

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