Disappointed in Dave Ramsey

I’m a fan of Dave Ramsey’s radio show and his get-out-of-debt philosophy and systems.  But I got an e-mail last week that left me a little disappointed.  This was to an article on his site called Tax-Time Shortcuts.
 
1.  His first hint is to not keep records in a box or paper bag because it might get thrown out.
 
My parents) found out last year that the IRS had ‘lost’ two of their previous tax returns and payments,” she explained. “The burden of proof was, of course, on my parents to prove that they had indeed filed and paid their taxes.”


LisaGrace’s parents found the cancelled check for the first year’s taxes but not the second. They had to pay again!

Well here’s my hint…e-file.  Then you can print a copy of your receipt for your records and keep the e-mail receipt.  Plus it’s less likely they’re going to lose a record of that.  Wonder why Dave didn’t recommend that common sense approach?

2.  Jennifer Clark learned that it’s not worth trying to save a buck and do your own taxes using tax software. The software doubled her income when it filed her forms, and the next thing she knew, the IRS was trying to debit $40,000 from her checking account!

Gee I wonder what kind of software she was using.  Mine keeps a running tally of what I owe or the size of my refund. It would be IMPOSSIBLE to screw up something like this.  Maybe all software programs aren’t alike – I’ve always used Turbo Tax and have been very happy with it.

Dave is advertising a tax service on his site which is fine, but I think he gave electric filing a bad wrap and I was disappointed that his advice seemed a tad old fashioned.

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