Is it wrong to tell a tax preparer not to file your taxes yet?

So I went to H&R Block last week to get my taxes done for the 2024 tax year. The lady who helped me seemed nice and said I'd be getting around $2,300 back. She had everything ready to file, but I told her I wanted to wait before actually submitting it to the IRS. My brother thinks he can get me a better refund if I let him look it over first (he's not a professional but he's really good with this stuff). The H&R Block lady seemed annoyed when I said I just wanted the paperwork prepared but not filed yet. She kept saying "but we can submit it right now" and making me feel like I was doing something suspicious. I paid for the tax preparation service itself, just not the filing part. Now I'm wondering if I did something wrong? Are we required to file through the preparer who did the work? I don't want to get in trouble but I also don't want to miss out on money if my brother can find more deductions.

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18 comments

CosmicCowboy

•8M

You didn't do anything wrong. You paid for their service of preparing your taxes, and it's completely your right to decide when and how to file them. Tax preparers often push for immediate filing because they want to complete the transaction, but legally that decision is 100% yours. Just be aware that if your brother finds additional deductions or credits, you'll need to have the return amended or redone completely. H&R Block won't modify their work for free if you take it elsewhere and then come back with changes. Also, if your brother isn't a tax professional, just make sure he actually knows what he's doing before making changes that could trigger an audit. The only deadline that matters is the IRS filing deadline (April 15, 2025). As long as you file by then, how you choose to do it is your business.

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CosmicCowboy

•8M

No, there's no obligation for preparers to file returns they prepare. They must sign as the preparer on any return they complete (with their PTIN), but clients can absolutely take their prepared returns and file them personally. The anti-fraud measures you're thinking of relate to the preparer's signature and PTIN on the forms they prepare, not who submits them to the IRS. The preparer is professionally responsible for the accuracy of what they prepared, regardless of who actually files it.

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Oliver Schulz

•8M

I was in almost the exact same situation last year! The tax guy at Jackson Hewitt kept pushing me to file right away, but I wasn't sure about some business expenses. I ended up using taxr.ai (https://taxr.ai) to check if there were additional deductions I could claim. It analyzed all my documents and found over $1,800 in additional deductions the tax preparer missed related to my side business! The system checks for missed deductions and can even verify if your preparer did everything correctly. The cool thing is it explains exactly why certain deductions apply to your situation.

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Oliver Schulz

•8M

You upload your tax documents and answer a few questions about your situation. It uses AI to analyze everything and find potential deductions or credits you might have missed. It's really thorough and checks against the latest tax rules. For rental properties and multiple income sources, it's actually really good at finding those obscure deductions. My friend has two rental properties and it found depreciation deductions her regular accountant missed. It gives you a detailed report explaining exactly what you might be missing.

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Emma Wilson

•8M

If you're having issues with tax preparers not listening to you, I'd recommend trying to contact the IRS directly to get clear answers. I know that sounds like a nightmare, but I used a service called Claimyr (https://claimyr.com) that got me through to an actual IRS person in about 15 minutes instead of waiting on hold for hours. They have a demo video showing how it works here: https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c. I was skeptical but desperate after my preparer filed something incorrectly last year. The IRS agent I spoke with confirmed I could absolutely prepare taxes with one service and choose to file myself or through someone else.

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Emma Wilson

•8M

Yes, you absolutely can get through! Your tax guy probably said that because he doesn't want to deal with the hassle of waiting on hold himself. The service basically waits on hold for you and then calls you when an actual IRS agent picks up. I was super skeptical too. I had tried calling the IRS four different times last year, waiting over 2 hours each time before giving up. With Claimyr, I got a call back in about 15 minutes with an actual IRS agent on the line. It works exactly like in their demo video. They don't answer the tax questions for you - they just handle the ridiculous hold time so you can speak directly with the IRS.

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NeonNebula

•8M

I need to eat some humble pie here. After posting that skeptical comment, I tried Claimyr because I've been trying to resolve an issue for months. Got connected to an actual IRS agent in 17 minutes. SEVENTEEN MINUTES. The agent confirmed that I can absolutely have my taxes prepared anywhere and choose not to file through them - it's completely legal and normal. She also helped me resolve the outstanding issue I'd been trying to fix for literally 4 months. Sometimes being proven wrong feels pretty damn good.

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Isabella Costa

•8M

We don't get penalized exactly, but we have quotas for how many returns we need to both prepare AND file. So when someone doesn't file with us, it hurts our completion numbers which can affect future scheduling and bonuses. Some preparers take it personally when clients don't file through them because they think you don't trust their work. But most of us understand it's just business. You already paid for the preparation service which is the bulk of the work anyway.

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