Every single person who has said that to me has been what I would consider a “typical” taxpayer.
Maybe they’re married. They have W-2s, a mortgage, maybe some student loan interest, and maybe they have kids and some charitable contributions.
NEWSFLASH: for the vast majority of taxpayers, there is no gray area to be pushed.
Your income is whatever your W-2 says it is.
Your deductions are whatever they are. Mortgage, property taxes, charitable, car registration. I suppose there could be a gray area if someone is claiming employee business expenses. But even then, those expenses are not likely to end up being deductible anyway.
No matter what the H & R Block commercials say, there is no magic wand that a tax preparer can wave to make a bigger tax refund appear.
Your withholding and your tax credits control how large your refund is – not some sort of magic worked by the preparer.
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