Identifying the Tax Prep Anomalies

01Read the return you already signed

Most people have never read their own return. Start with the schedules, not the refund. Schedule C, Schedule E, and Schedule B tell you what activities exist. Compare the interest income on Schedule B against your known accounts — a bank that paid you interest is a bank that holds your money, whether or not you knew it existed.

• Schedule B interest and dividends from institutions absent from your baseline inventory.
• Schedule E rental income for properties you cannot name.
• Schedule C revenue and expenses wildly inconsistent with the lifestyle you actually live.
• Form 8938 and FinCEN 114 references — foreign accounts, disclosed to the government but not to you.
• K-1s from partnerships or S corporations you have never heard discussed.
• A preparer's name and address you cannot recall ever meeting.

02The signature question

Ask yourself who signed the return, and how. If e-filed, who entered the PINs? If you were handed only a signature page, note that. Innocent spouse relief turns on knowledge and on whether you had reason to know — and the story of how your signature was obtained is central to that analysis.