Would you charge a fee?

[KIDZRMYBIZ]

I had a DCF leave last year on December 5th. On December 22nd, I mailed them a final receipt for their taxes. It was not a happy parting, but I took the high road as always and did all that could be expected of me in a very professional manner, and also concluded our business with a very firm finality.

Imagine my surprise to receive an e-mail last Friday from the DCM demanding another statement for their taxes.:confused:

It will be no small feat to get them another one. We finished all of our 2014 business in January, copied everything to ****s, and removed all the old files from the computer (all my business stuff is on our rather ancient laptop). One copy is in the safety deposit box at the bank. Another copy is in a fire safe at my in-laws. I will have to make to trips to retrieve one of the ****s and return it. I will have to then print another copy, and mail it certified mail again to be sure they receive it because I still use my SSN (I am getting a tax id this week now just because of this though).

So, for the small cost of all that, plus the time to do it, plus the fact that I either have to take an unpaid day off to accomplish it (bank and post office hours) or have my sweet DH inconvenience his day at work and do it for me, I would like to reply that since I already provided them with one, there will be a $25 service charge to do another. Once I receive that payment, I will promptly send another.

What do you think? I'm pretty sure I HAVE to provide another one if they ask for it. And another. And another. As many times as they ask for one I probably have to give them one, but can I charge them for it? My thought is if they have to pay me $25 for it, they will find the first one I gave them for free.

[MrsSteinel'sHouse]

I had a DCF leave last year on December 5th. On December 22nd, I mailed them a final receipt for their taxes. It was not a happy parting, but I took the high road as always and did all that could be expected of me in a very professional manner, and also concluded our business with a very firm finality.

Imagine my surprise to receive an e-mail last Friday from the DCM demanding another statement for their taxes.:confused:

It will be no small feat to get them another one. We finished all of our 2014 business in January, copied everything to ****s, and removed all the old files from the computer (all my business stuff is on our rather ancient laptop). One copy is in the safety deposit box at the bank. Another copy is in a fire safe at my in-laws. I will have to make to trips to retrieve one of the ****s and return it. I will have to then print another copy, and mail it certified mail again to be sure they receive it because I still use my SSN (I am getting a tax id this week now just because of this though).

So, for the small cost of all that, plus the time to do it, plus the fact that I either have to take an unpaid day off to accomplish it (bank and post office hours) or have my sweet DH inconvenience his day at work and do it for me, I would like to reply that since I already provided them with one, there will be a $25 service charge to do another. Once I receive that payment, I will promptly send another.

What do you think? I'm pretty sure I HAVE to provide another one if they ask for it. And another. And another. As many times as they ask for one I probably have to give them one, but can I charge them for it? My thought is if they have to pay me $25 for it, they will find the first one I gave them for free.

yes you may charge a fee, no you do not have to give them a total.... http://www.tomcopelandblog.com/2011/...-receipts.html

[AmyKidsCo]

Considering the amount of work you have to go through to get it, charging a fee is not unreasonable. If it was as simple as pulling it off your computer I wouldn't charge a fee, but this sounds like a lot of work.

[Unregistered]

I would make her bring the tax form to you AND charge

[finsup]

Sounds fair to me! What are the odds they "find" it pretty quickly after they read that If it were as easy as printing something off or just giving my SSN again I wouldnt bother with a fee (unless they lost it a 3rd time) buy if you or your husband has to miss work for it, then yeah, they can def pay.

[Unregistered]

I know it is a huge pain, but even if you charge a fee, what are the chances they will actually pay it? I think you have to give them a copy, regardless, so you might as well just send it and move on. I keep all my tax records handy until mid year, because there always seems to be a reason to dig it out and it usually is for someone who is procrastinating and not organized

[Unregistered]

Just to add to my previous post, if it is legal to charge a fee and then withhold the document until they pay, then I would totally charge the fee, but if you have no recourse to obtain the fee, then I wouldn't waste any extra time or energy on it

[Blackcat31]

My parent policy handbook says that ONLY one copy is provided without a fee. A second copy would DEFINITELY cost them and would be provided at MY convenience. I wouldn't be in any hurry to placate them.

[Shell]

This makes me mad for you
What about something along the lines of,

"Sorry dcm, but I have already filed my taxes and your info is no longer accessible to me. I apologize, but I provide each family with one tax receipt, which you received on (x) date. I apologize for any inconvenience".

When I nannied for a family (it was a terrible experience), the dcm got all snippy with me for being "unprofessional" for quitting the job.
Wasn't I amused when miss unprofessional herself sent me a message asking for the info on the tax forms because she "misplaced" it.

I waited about a week, debating whether or not to tell her off- but decided to just give it to her and get her out of my life.

I really feel like misplacing tax info from a situation that didn't end well is ridiculous- I would have made sure to keep that in a safe place.

[Unregistered]

The only thing we are required to do is fill out that form they need to provide to us with our ein, address and such. Year end receipts are not required. They should have kept receipts or checks to prove it to the irs.

Check out the taxes forum.

[Leigh]

I had a DCF leave last year on December 5th. On December 22nd, I mailed them a final receipt for their taxes. It was not a happy parting, but I took the high road as always and did all that could be expected of me in a very professional manner, and also concluded our business with a very firm finality.

Imagine my surprise to receive an e-mail last Friday from the DCM demanding another statement for their taxes.:confused:

It will be no small feat to get them another one. We finished all of our 2014 business in January, copied everything to ****s, and removed all the old files from the computer (all my business stuff is on our rather ancient laptop). One copy is in the safety deposit box at the bank. Another copy is in a fire safe at my in-laws. I will have to make to trips to retrieve one of the ****s and return it. I will have to then print another copy, and mail it certified mail again to be sure they receive it because I still use my SSN (I am getting a tax id this week now just because of this though).

So, for the small cost of all that, plus the time to do it, plus the fact that I either have to take an unpaid day off to accomplish it (bank and post office hours) or have my sweet DH inconvenience his day at work and do it for me, I would like to reply that since I already provided them with one, there will be a $25 service charge to do another. Once I receive that payment, I will promptly send another.

What do you think? I'm pretty sure I HAVE to provide another one if they ask for it. And another. And another. As many times as they ask for one I probably have to give them one, but can I charge them for it? My thought is if they have to pay me $25 for it, they will find the first one I gave them for free.

You do not have to provide them with another statement. It sounds like a lot of work for $25. I would charge them an amount that makes it worth it to you, and refuse to provide it without cash payment at the time they pick it up. I would not mail it to them-you'll never get paid for your time if you do. Also, you could get an EIN online today-it is super fast and easy.

[KIDZRMYBIZ]

Thank you everyone. I used some of everyone's advice. I did it. It's too late now. I e-mailed this back, because I really do not want to ever see them again:

I have already filed my 2014 taxes and your information is no longer readily accessible to me. I did provide one copy of the final tax receipt free-of-charge the week of 12/19/14 via the USPS, receipt of which was confirmed when you cashed the personal check repaying an overage that I included. Due to the time, difficulty, and expense involved in generating and delivering a second copy when one has already been provided, there will be a fee of $50.00. This fee is payable by cash or money order and is to be sent to my address via certified mail. After this payment is received, I will mail a second copy via certified mail within 2 weeks.

DCM is going to be so mad! But darn it, I am tired of doing things like this at my own expense. I'd like to charge her a whole day of my pay instead of asking my DH to take his work time to do it, too, but I won't go that far. I read on that helpful link about making 2 copies, and making the parents sign off on one for me. That is how I will do it from here on out, even if it makes me uncomfortable. They will have to come pick it up and sign one for me if they want it. And I am online now getting an IEN. Should have done that 13 years ago!

[Annalee]

I had a DCF leave last year on December 5th. On December 22nd, I mailed them a final receipt for their taxes. It was not a happy parting, but I took the high road as always and did all that could be expected of me in a very professional manner, and also concluded our business with a very firm finality.

Imagine my surprise to receive an e-mail last Friday from the DCM demanding another statement for their taxes.:confused:

It will be no small feat to get them another one. We finished all of our 2014 business in January, copied everything to ****s, and removed all the old files from the computer (all my business stuff is on our rather ancient laptop). One copy is in the safety deposit box at the bank. Another copy is in a fire safe at my in-laws. I will have to make to trips to retrieve one of the ****s and return it. I will have to then print another copy, and mail it certified mail again to be sure they receive it because I still use my SSN (I am getting a tax id this week now just because of this though).

So, for the small cost of all that, plus the time to do it, plus the fact that I either have to take an unpaid day off to accomplish it (bank and post office hours) or have my sweet DH inconvenience his day at work and do it for me, I would like to reply that since I already provided them with one, there will be a $25 service charge to do another. Once I receive that payment, I will promptly send another.

What do you think? I'm pretty sure I HAVE to provide another one if they ask for it. And another. And another. As many times as they ask for one I probably have to give them one, but can I charge them for it? My thought is if they have to pay me $25 for it, they will find the first one I gave them for free.

I would not have answered the email! ::

[Meeko]

I have it in my handbook that parents get ONE copy of their tax statement. Copies are $10 each and not instant. I will get to it when I have a spare moment.

[KIDZRMYBIZ]

I would not have answered the email! ::

I considered this, but then worried I could get in trouble, or worse, they'd show up on my doorstep! I'd bet anything they have the one I gave them somewhere, and are just too lazy to look for it. Of course it's easier to have someone else just hand you another. If it isn't free, maybe they will make the effort to find it, or at least not misplace another important document!

I already got the IEN. EVERYONE needs to do this if they haven't!!! It was so easy. I really wish I had done it a very long time ago!

I will let you know what kind of response I get...