Jump to content
ATX Community

JJStephens

Donors
  • Posts

    443
  • Joined

  • Last visited

  • Days Won

    8

Contact Methods

  • Website URL
    http://ministryconsulting.net

Profile Information

  • State
    OH
  • Gender
    Male

Recent Profile Visitors

6,092 profile views
  1. I've had numerous state part year return issues. I just split to MFS and half the data changed an the spouse return would not generate at all. It took their support person over an hour to find a backdoor solution. I was on the horn with a support person a couple days ago discussing an issue where the software would not handle a withdrawal of excess contributions to a qualified plan. The support person repeatedly told me that she 'thought she found something' and pointed me to the PMT screen to enter electronic funds withdrawals (e.g., the screen to set up a balance due withdrawal). That has been typical of the half dozen support calls I've made this year. I've had a couple support folks tell me that they're getting a lot more disgruntled calls because the software changes are not working as planned. I've been a loyal/avid Drake user for more than 10 years but if this continues I'm not sure I'll be back next year. Apparently, I'm not alone. Their Trustpilot rating is down to 3.1.
  2. I've been having more problems with Drake this year than any three previous years. Their previously legendary support was bad last year and this year is nothing short of horrible. I don't want to ... but might be forced to look elsewhere after this year. Since the Drake family sold out things have steadily declined. Sad.
  3. Parsons was my first tax software after years preparing by hand. Back in those days (early '90s), I often called Bob Parsons to talk about several of his software products (QuickVerse, MoneyCounts, Membership Plus). When Bob & Martha Parsons split up, they sold Parsons Technology to Intuit. Intuit killed off the tax software and sold the rest. Bob did okay. After a brief time off, he founded GoDaddy! You heard right. ATX was originally built on Excel sheets but they moved away from that long ago. Dang! These trips down memory lane always end the same way...me feeling really old!
  4. I did ATX/Saber for quite a few years. After the 2012 debacle I tested half a dozen options including ProSeries. Like Catherine, I found it a bit clunky. Ended up with something else for one year, then went to Drake. I found that I was doing returns in about 75% of the time. I had some big issues with Drake last year resulting from the change in ownership. I called support more in that one year than I had in the previous 8 or 9 combined. I switched to TaxWise this year. That lasted less than a week. Support was horrid. "We expect CPAs to know how to do that" I know how, I just can't find where to make the entry. They couldn't find it either! Another time they suggested I call the IRS to ask for guidance. It was not a tax question--it was another software use question! I bit the bullet and came back to Drake. All the issues I had last year were resolved over the off-season and I'm once again a happy camper. Given I can count on one hand the number of years I expect to continue doing this, I suspect I'll be with Drake from here on out. IF I'm forced to change, based on your experience I might give ProSeries another look.
  5. I woke up with about 12 things on my to-do list. I just turned the page over and decided I'll 'find' it tomorrow.
  6. That and the credit card payment 'expense' account. Every year I have at least one person who wants to deduct owner draws on their Sch C. A couple weeks ago I had a long time client (who should...and probably does...know better) tell me his cousin's neighbor's ex-boyfriend (or something like that) is an accountant and told him as long as he puts gas and fast food and a variety of other things on his business debit card, he can deduct them on his tax return.
  7. One of my chronic procrastinators called this afternoon 'to give me the good news' that I would not need to rush her daughter's return out this evening since she was still waiting on a W2 to replace the one they lost. This woman is a big time realtor who frequently complains about her clients dragging their feet on getting what is need to complete a house purchase. It is completely lost on her that every year she shows up at the last minute wanting me to pop everything out and every year we do an extension. She tells me the problem is she doesn't do forms very well--this from a realtor! I wrapped up a return earlier today and went to upload it to the portal only to discover the client had uploaded several additional W2S and other material late last night. That noise you heard mid-morning was me screaming! Once I got past that, I actually had a reasonably calm day. Still waiting on a couple 8879s and then I'm done.
  8. Here are two things I look for on multi-city part-year returns that involve RITA. Either of these can cause a RITA error. 1. Dates of employment must be entered on the W-2/Ohio screen for all W2s, not just the RITA W2s. Further, on W-2s with multiple city withholdings, dates must be entered on the same number of lines as there are muni’s with withholding. 2. On W2 entry, box 18 must be equal to the larger of box 1 or box 5.
  9. Part of what I love about this forum is the never-ending stream of fascinating situations and (I say this sincerely) brilliant responses! If there were a John Grisham for tax law, that person could have a never ending supply of plot lines just from reading the intriguing stuff posted here.
  10. Record number (40) for the fourth year in a row. And that despite the fact I'm about 10 ahead of where I was on deadline eve last year. I'll probably knock out a handful more before the clock tolls midnight tomorrow, but it'll still beat last year's record. Don't you just love those folks who email on the day before saying "I'll try to get my stuff to you later today. You might have to do an extension if you're not able to get to it." Ya THINK?!?!? I have about ten clients I file extensions the first time I open my software in January. One of them shocked me this year--got all his stuff in by early March. Most of them barely make the extended deadline despite my pleas all summer to get their materials to me. All summer, they promise they won't wait till the last minute. Then on October 13 I get an "Oops, I did it again" e-note. I'd fire them but a couple are among my closest friends and one is my daughter. Deep sigh.
  11. Part of the problem is that there are so many letters/paragraphs/etc. The same material often appears in multiple places. Trying to get them all is a bit like playing whack-a-mole.
  12. Thanks. I had looked in that section and made a change but it wasn't showing up. Turns out, I was changing it in another section. I kept poking around and found the correct section (thanks to your help!).
  13. I served for several years on the council of the small burg where I used to live in. The OH legislature has repeatedly cut taxes over the past several years (yay!) but a major part of what they cut to pay for the tax cut was funding to municipal governments. Now, the muni's are having to raise taxes to survive. Everyone loves a tax cut...until the services they rely on are cut as a result. Deep sigh. My last vote before resigning when I moved one town over was to enact a local tax. Made me sick having to do it but we were the last muni in our county to enact a local tax (1%) and we would have been bankrupt without it.
  14. RITA administers city tax for hundreds of municipalities. As a result, the RITA return is somewhat convoluted. Drake handles RITA reasonably well for straightforward returns but can get squirrely in special circumstances like part year situations. I suggest you check the results carefully to make sure it produces what is expected. You can also call Drake and get some help. They have access to some instructions/cheat sheets that are not available to us in the field. FWIW, about half my calls to tech support each year are special situation RITA issues. They typically find some obscure check box in a place no one would ever think to look (sometimes not even in the RITA section).
  15. City tax in Ohio is a plate of spaghetti. Here's the skinny: Withholding is based on workplace city. Even if the taxpayer lives elsewhere, the employer is required to withhold tax for wherever they work...and the workplace city gets to keep the money. If someone has Sch C/E/F income, that income is also taxed by the city where the income is earned. That may require preparing a city return for that city (even if it's not the taxpayer's city of residence). Sche C/E/F losses can be used to offset other C/E/F income but it cannot be used to offset wage income. If their residence city has an income tax, taxpayers typically have to file a tax return for that city (a very few cities do not require filing if the taxpayer also worked in the same city and city tax was fully withheld on their income). Most taxing cities have a tax rate of 1.0 -2.5% though a few are as high as 3% rate...and several of them give no credit for taxes withheld elsewhere. That means if a taxpayer lives in a 3% city and works in a different 3% city, they might end up paying 6% in city taxes. Whee! Each city gets to decide if they want to give credit for taxes withheld in other cities. Some give full credit (up to the local tax rate), some give partial credit (typically half the local tax rate) and some give no credit. Bedrooms communities typically give little or no credit for city taxes withheld elsewhere. Ohio has more cities with an income tax than the rest of the country combined. However, there are some cities that do not have a city tax and most people in rural areas don't have to file a city return. Some income is exempt from city tax including retirement, social security, interest, dividends, cap gains and income earned prior the taxpayer's 18th birthday. In the great state of Ohio, school districts are also permitted to enact an income tax...and a substantial number of them do. School district withholding is always based on the taxpayer's residence. That makes it a bit easier. I moved here 35 years ago from Florida (no state tax). I was shocked to learn that in additional to federal tax, I now got to pay state, school district and city income taxes as well. It's great to be a Buckeye (not so much during tax season but fer sure during football season!).
×
×
  • Create New...