and our house. Then I was repaid for one of the cars and the house, and we have no idea how to handle the taxes as a result. The last tax person I gave the file to cried.”
That didn’t sound promising. “The government does enjoy getting every penny out of you as much as possible.”
“Yeah, and we received extra to cover the taxes, which made it even more complicated. I think I overpaid our taxes, too. Well, I know I did. I got a hefty check back from the IRS, but that shouldn’t be right.”
Ah. When someone owed a lot in taxes, and they received a refund after paying, triggers were tripped, anxiety kicked in, and doubt usually won. “Did you happen to register all of the various health bills associated with your injuries as part of your taxes?”
Alice frowned. “Yes, one of the accountants did make me hand over all of the receipts, even the one I got while out west. I broke my stupid foot being stupid.”
The elevator pinged and opened to the clubhouse level, and Jacob led us to his office, which had a few extra chairs and a card table brought in to offer extra room if his desk lacked sufficient space. Alice’s spider was placed in the far corner, and she plugged in a mat, which she placed beneath the tub. “Don’t worry, the mat doesn’t get hot enough to hurt the plastic. It just makes sure she stays warm enough.”
“Alice, stop fretting. Your spider is fine, nobody minds you have her here, and you’re not going to burn anything down while you’re in here watching the heat pad. Please relax. Please, I beg you. If you keep fretting any more today, I’m going to have a heart attack.”
She scowled, and I recognized an old complaint when I heard one. As the last thing any of us needed was a bundle of anxiety fretting over taxes and her pet at the same time, I said, “It’s okay. We’ll keep an eye on your spider, and I’ll make sure Edgar Allan Paw and Lenore don’t bother her. Their favorite hobby is sleeping, although I expect the kitten will start getting into trouble soon. That’s what kittens do. Or that’s what I’ve been told kittens do. I’ve never had a cat or a dog before, so I expect the next few days of my life will be interesting.”
“You’re sure?” Alice asked.
“Absolutely. Let’s sit down and start going over these papers so I can see if there’s any obvious issues, and I’ll take the lot with me tonight and get to work on it. I’ll make sure all of the deductions you can claim have been claimed and close any potential audit risks to keep the IRS from poking its nose in your business. Of course, that won’t stop you from being selected as part of the random draw for audits, but my job is to keep your audit risk as low as possible. If you are audited, my job also involves making certain you get through it as quickly as possible without incurring any bills.”
“I thought an IRS audit automatically meant a huge fine,” Alice muttered.
“There’s only a fine if they find anything wrong with your taxes. If it’s discovered they overcharged you as part of the audit, they owe you money. They try to avoid auditing anyone that might result in them having to pay a refund.”
Two of Jacob’s employees brought in a stack of four boxes, which they placed on the desk. I raised a brow, making a mental note over how I’d need to add a few extra hours to every day for a while. “Is this all medical?”
“Honestly, I didn’t know what I’d need, so I brought everything. The renovation payments for the house, the car registrations, the medical bills, the court paperwork showing how much I was owed and paid, taxes paid everywhere, charitable contributions, and that other thing Lance said we’d need.”
Lance laughed. “Our W-2s, babe.”
“Yeah, those.”
I giggled. “How is this organized?”
Alice gulped. “It’s not. I’m a secretary, and I should know better, but I got frustrated, I couldn’t find a paper, and I made a mess of it, so I just shoved everything in the boxes, and then I kept shoving things in them I wasn’t sure I needed, and now there’s four boxes, and I don’t even know how much of it you actually need.”
Alice’s admission made her husband smile even more. “You’re such a mess, Alice. Anyway, we’re