Income Tax Return Shops

Hi,

Are income tax return shops out yet?

Thanks!

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I have only seen email advising us to be on the lookout for these shops.

I too saw the emails some time back, but have yet to see them on the job board.

I believe this is the first week that the tax preparers are even open, so it may still be a little early for the shops. Just do be aware that these usually have minimum refund requirements and most expect a refund anticipation loan that will require a credit check.

Since no clients have been mentioned, can someone pm me who does the Income Tax Return Shops? I would love to do one. Thank you!

Each year they show up with different MSPs and different requirements. Last year there were many of them through MFI. They were from the SG Marketing group (now owned by MFI) and offered through the 'blue portal' which is the old SNC site. When they were unable to find enough shoppers they also showed up through Kern. There will be plenty of them show up. Of course you only get to do one of them because part of the requirement is that they do an e-file of your return for your refund and RAL. The cost of return preparation, loan fees and I believe interest charged were covered in the past.

This post was in response to HReid's ridiculous sniper rant. He has been deactivated and had his posts removed. As such, I deleted it.

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Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/15/2010 08:52AM by dee shops.

The shops were on the board for the cities I search today.

I saw some today; they require a credit check in the process of the shop. I stay away from anything like that for shopping. :-)

I noticed the credit check too.

Shoppers, beware. I checked in with the tax prep service in a nearby WalMart yesterday. I was not impressed and I left worrying about any potential customer.

There was a new kiosk with two desks stuck in an office off to the side. The "Manager" was sitting there talking on her cell phone. I introduced myself, after she finally hung up. They don’t have computers yet, Dell was supposed to ship them soon. No Rals or Electronic Refund Credits. Owner still looking for another funding source (Bank). Can't use debit or credit cards, for fee payment because they haven’t worked out a deal with WalMart yet. Prices for preparation fees haven’t been set yet by the owner. This "Manager" has never done a return, but has an office background.

Run away, fast. To choose such an important service, use the skills we've learned as mystery shoppers.

Aaargh!

I noticed these shops available. I would not give all that personal information out

Are there any available shops out there from companies other than MFI? I have not passed the screening yet. Apparently, there are four different scenarios they are trying to fill.

I did an income tax return shop last year with another company. It was a very simple shop. I do not see them yet this year.

I hope those shops start getting picked up soon. In the area I search, there are TONS of them. It makes it a little hard to sort through the job board.

A quick trick . . . if you are not interested in the shops, deliberately mess up the screening test. The shops will disappear for this round. I'm sure there will be multiple waves of them, but at least it gets them out of your way.

Ahhh, did not think of that. Thank you.

anneaude Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Are there any available shops out there from
> companies other than MFI? I have not passed the
> screening yet. Apparently, there are four
> different scenarios they are trying to fill.
>
> I did an income tax return shop last year with
> another company. It was a very simple shop. I do
> not see them yet this year.

I did see a 'tax focus shop' for $5. fee + $5 reimbursement (stamps or some such). TS, if that's your cup of tea. It's not a tax return shop, the email said 3 simple questions.

can you do more than one tax return shop? or do you have to finish up your taxes?

*looking forward to finish up his taxes... quote of $812 return and counting from turbo tax*

shopping north west PA and south west ny

Most of the shops out there require that you be expecting at least a $1000 refund, that you file and that you go for the RAL (Refund Anticipation Loan). So you are only going to get to do that type of shop once a year because you can only file your return once (anything after that is an amended return and would not count for the shop).

You can only do one shop as it requires your return to actually be filed with the IRS. For shoppers who have already worked up their return, the tax return shop could be a good thing. The shop I've seen requires a minimum of $1000 refund. And, the shop requires a RAL which requires a credit check. You need to decide what you're going to say to the preparer when they start your Schedule C. "I mystery shop" wouldn't be a good idea!

I did one of these last year. It was no big deal. I got reimbursed for the fees (which were over $300) plus the $70 or whatever pay it was for completing the shop. The tax preparer found something I had missed on a previous return too and that added even more of a refund. All in all, not a bad deal for me. I wasn't worried about the credit check because my credit is high and one credit check every once in a great while is no big deal to me.

Oh, I do wonder though, how do you handle it when the tax preparer asks what your occupation is? I always have 1099s from mystery shopping. Wouldn't this throw up a red flag?? Last year I told the preparer that I quit shopping. She actually asked me if I was shopping her. I said, "No, but that would be neat if I could, haha." Yikes. I didn't get caught and I'm hoping not to get caught this year because I would like to do another shop.

The lady who did my taxes last year, that is the lady I shopped, had done some mystery shopping in the past. I was honest with her. She found the experiences I had as a mystery shopper fascinating. She had no clue I was evaluating her!

Heads up on those-they DO require a credit check....

So I decided to go ahead and take one of these shops. I already purchased an H&R Block software kit for my home computer. It is the $60 professional edition. If anyone knows someone who might need this, PM me. I'll sell it at a discount. Hopefully I'm not breaking any rules on here by posting this, but I thought maybe this might be a good place to start in finding someone who might want this software cheaper than retail.

I have signed up for one also. This is the 3rd year that I have had my taxes done and got paid for it. ;-)

Topaz - I also did the shop last year. For 1099s from MS'ing, I would just say it's consulting work.

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