Why do people keep giving wrong tax advise that will hurt people?

Question

I have come across numerous questions that have to do with tax law. People give answers/advise where they say "I know for a fact that.... because I did it." Hwever the advise they give is so wrong and illegal. For example, "MD" just told someone that they can claim their fiance as a dependant becasue she supported him. WRONG! If the person follows that advise they will be in deep trouble with the IRS and "MD" is in trouble if she did this.

I am worried that people fill follow this bad info and get hurt. Should I just stop correcting people and think, they are stupud to listen to these people?

Answer 1

You need to voice your opinion,and, the tax filers need to go to the pros for answers, so that the ill advice they are given doesn't come back and bite them in the ***.

Answer 2

Dizneyfreak, as I had responded to your comments in the other thread, you need to read further into how the IRS defines a dependent.

In IRS Publication 501, the IRS states that you can claim a dependent exemption on anyone who is either a:

1. qualifying child, OR
2. qualifying relative

Obviously, the person's fiance doesn't qualify as a dependent as a qualifying child. However, the person's fiance DOES qualify as a qualifying relative. Now the term qualifying relative, as far as the IRS is concerned, does not mean that the person has to be related to them.

The IRS defines a qualifying relative as some who meets the four following tests:

1. Not a qualifying child
2. Meets the membership of household or relationship test
3. Meets the gross income test, AND
4. Meets the support test

Now the test that you need to be concerned with is the second test.....membership of household OR relationship test. The relationship test is just that, the person has to be related to the taxpayer. However, the membership of household test just requires the person to live in the taxpayer's household for the FULL tax year. The membership of household test does not add on conditions that the person has to be related to the taxpayer, otherwise they would qualify under the relationship test. You do not need to meet both, just one OR the other.

Before you go around accusing people of giving incorrect advice, you should make sure your advice is soundproof as well. People who live in glass houses shouldn't throw stones. Perhaps you may want to go back and read through Publication 501 again.

And the information I put up above comes from Publication 501 that is supposed to be used for the 2006 tax return.

Answer 3

Anyone who takes answers on here accepts the responsability that the person may not know what they are talking about. That's why they should look for people who can back their answers up with a sourse or if they get the same answer numberous times, it may help them to make a decision, you can't help all the people all the time.

P.S. Before the IRS code was rewritten in 2005 (for tax year 04) it was possible for someone's "significat" other to claim them as a dependant on their taxes as long at that person lived with them the entire year, was not claimed by anyone else, and had no income, as long as it did not violate state law. The IRS has since rewriten the defenition of a dependant because people were claiming friends or partners due to the wording of the code.

Answer 4

As I have stated in another thread, the majority of the answers are being given by kids who have never paid tax or by people who have gotten away with illegal things for years and believe it is ok. The advice should give a link to an official reference, otherwise ignore it.

Answer 5

Unfortunately, our tax laws are so complicated that you cannot be certain that a call to the IRS will result in a correct answer. The best guideline, I suppose, is to accept only those answers that are backed up by a written guarantee by a bonded agency that will pay any and all penalties incurred due to their error.