BHoffman Posted March 5, 2017 Report Share Posted March 5, 2017 Good - I thought I would spending the weekend catching up on bookkeeping, but happily discovered that I'd already finished it! Bad - I can't really see well enough out of my new progressive glasses and am pretty frustrated about that. Ugly - Client owes BIG tax on 1120S, 1120S loss is suspended, owes capital gain for distribution in excess of basis, owes ACA subsidy because he went way over 400% on his Sch C. Every year it's a new catastrophe. Deciphering his paperwork is like untying a wet shoelace. I want very much to fire him. I love the guy, but dread doing his tax returns each and every year. He's on the short list to get my gentle farewell kiss. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rfassett Posted March 5, 2017 Report Share Posted March 5, 2017 Good - good for you. It is always nice to get some time freed up by surprise! Bad - I fired my progressive glasses a couple of years ago and never looked back! Ugly - if we charge these clients enough they come to be not so ugly. Raise his fee until you feel good about it - and if he sticks around you are both better off! And he does not - you are both better off! 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BHoffman Posted March 5, 2017 Author Report Share Posted March 5, 2017 I can't charge enough to make this worth the stress. He is one of three high maintenance, low paying (because they just don't have enough money) clients I have kept over the years for the plain fact that I just love them as people. One retired and closed up his business, one is probably going close up in the next year or two, and this guy. I am grabbing at straws here, but someone help me out with a question regarding the BIG? The FMV of the assets on the date of conversion was $50,000. The basis was $2,000 (don't ask...). So the NUBIG was $48,000. On the sale date the FMV of the assets had dropped to $25,000. I figured the realized BIG is $23,000. Now I'm wondering if the decrease in FMV between the date of conversion and the date of disposition makes any difference. I'm thinking it doesn't because the tiny basis didn't change....Am I correct? The assets were marketable securities that were not treated as cash equivalents per Sec 731 and I did not prepare the tax return in the year of the conversion. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lion EA Posted March 5, 2017 Report Share Posted March 5, 2017 You are right. You do NOT charge enough! 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lee B Posted March 5, 2017 Report Share Posted March 5, 2017 I sympathize about the progressive lens. It took me more than 6 months to adapt. Even now I have to be careful matching up numbers and descriptions. If there is a big gap between the description and the numbers, sometimes I will confuse the number on the line below with the correct number. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FDNY Posted March 5, 2017 Report Share Posted March 5, 2017 When you say progressive do you mean with the line in the middle? I just got a new pair, top 1.75 bottom 2.75 and they work great. Just don't try to get up and walk around the room and stay away from stairs. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BHoffman Posted March 5, 2017 Author Report Share Posted March 5, 2017 I'm going to wear the glasses all day today since I'm just printing and assembling and see how things look tomorrow morning. Glad to know that others have had the same experience. FDNY - no line in the middle. I tried a pair of those and and they were impossible for your same reason! The ugly is worse than the bad. I'm ready to pull the trigger on this BIG tax return.....any advice on that? 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FDNY Posted March 5, 2017 Report Share Posted March 5, 2017 Yes, get a good night's sleep and start it as early as possible tomorrow morning. Before you know it, it will be lunchtime. Have a good lunch, easy on the carbs, don't want to get sleepy, then when assembling the return hike up the bill a little. Works for me every time, and I feel good about it. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FDNY Posted March 5, 2017 Report Share Posted March 5, 2017 1 minute ago, FDNY said: Yes, get a good night's sleep, good breakfast and start return as early as possible tomorrow morning. Before you know it, it will be lunchtime. Have a good lunch, easy on the carbs, don't want to get sleepy, then when assembling the return hike up the bill a little. Works for me every time, and I feel good about it. Sorry for the double, now I need a good night's sleep. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ILLMAS Posted March 5, 2017 Report Share Posted March 5, 2017 5 hours ago, BHoffman said: Good - I thought I would spending the weekend catching up on bookkeeping, but happily discovered that I'd already finished it! Bad - I can't really see well enough out of my new progressive glasses and am pretty frustrated about that. Ugly - Client owes BIG tax on 1120S, 1120S loss is suspended, owes capital gain for distribution in excess of basis, owes ACA subsidy because he went way over 400% on his Sch C. Every year it's a new catastrophe. Deciphering his paperwork is like untying a wet shoelace. I want very much to fire him. I love the guy, but dread doing his tax returns each and every year. He's on the short list to get my gentle farewell kiss. The ugly: This past January I attended a tax seminar and the instructor said he was able to get his client income under the 400% by having his client and wife put money in an IRA account. He gave us a couple of examples in our material, you might want to play around the IRA numbers and see if it goes down and if it does charge them double. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jklcpa Posted March 5, 2017 Report Share Posted March 5, 2017 1 hour ago, BHoffman said: I'm going to wear the glasses all day today since I'm just printing and assembling and see how things look tomorrow morning. Glad to know that others have had the same experience. FDNY - no line in the middle. I tried a pair of those and and they were impossible for your same reason! The ugly is worse than the bad. I'm ready to pull the trigger on this BIG tax return.....any advice on that? I've had progressives with 2 prescriptions for years now, and I had trouble with my latest pair, now about 4 years old. I'm a little afraid to get new ones after all the troubles with these. When I went for that eye exam the doctor said I needed a change and ordered the glasses. There was something "off" with them right from the start, and I noticed that I felt like my left eye was being pulled in a little while wearing them. That problem was the focal point in the lens wasn't aligned with the center of my eye. I also had trouble reading the computer screen. I'm nearsighted so the top part was adjusted for distance, but I also need some help with reading and the doctor thought that the computer screen would be close enough to use the bottom reading part of the prescription like most people do. Wrong, because they assumed a certain distance to the computer screen for that. Turns out that my screen is about twice the distance at the back of the hutch and adding in room for the part where the papers are, the pull-out keyboard drawer, and me sitting in the chair. They kept asking me to read something like would be on my screen and when I set it off to the distance where my screen would be they finally figured out what was going on. The solution was to have a 3rd prescription for that intermediate distance to the screen built in to that progressive lens. It also solved some of the problem those have with bifocals that cause wearers to have to tip their heads back while working on a computer. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jklcpa Posted March 5, 2017 Report Share Posted March 5, 2017 My piece of "ugly" work this week was been a b!tch of E&P calculations that I had to reconstruct years worth. I made a theoretical error early on in it that is compounding the ugliness, and I knew something was wrong and was too tired to grasp what it was. When I woke up this morning it hit me exactly what the problem was, so I've spent a good portion of the afternoon reworking that portion to correct the errors I made and the mess it created. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BHoffman Posted March 6, 2017 Author Report Share Posted March 6, 2017 I've been reading all day with my head tilted back about this BIG thing and have concluded that the drop in FMV doesn't make any difference. They still had the same amount of gain. Figured that out after taking a little walk. When I looked down, the glasses made the ground seem farther away so I felt really tall 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terry D EA Posted March 6, 2017 Report Share Posted March 6, 2017 I too have been wearing progressive lenses for years now. While I have never had a huge problem adapting, I can tell you it is better to buy the lenses with a wider field of view. Varilux is the top lens. Walmart sells a Nikon lens that is very similar to the Varilux. The progressive lens is an hour glass shape and the wider the shape the better field of view. I bought standard safety glasses that are progressive and they drive me nuts. Just my 2 cents worth. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BHoffman Posted March 6, 2017 Author Report Share Posted March 6, 2017 ILLMAS he's way, way over the 400%. Even a max SEP contribution won't bring it down enough. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Catherine Posted March 6, 2017 Report Share Posted March 6, 2017 Progressive lenses are really important to get right in the frames. If the place where the change starts is even the tiniest bit non-level from one side to the other, or the tiniest bit tipped in one lens, you will never get used to them. However - if they are the right prescription and made right, they are wonderful. I have two sets of progressives; one for real life and an completely separate set called "computer glasses" where the top is the right prescription for me to see the computer screen directly, straight, and in-focus, and the lower portion so I can see papers on the desktop properly. I brought measured distances from my monitors and desktop with me to the eye doctor; "averages" from most people mostly don't work when one is only 5' tall. Oh, and a set with sunglasses for the car. Love 'em. If it takes more than a week to get used to them, there might be something wrong. If it feels like your eye is getting pulled up or sideways, there is *definitely* something wrong with the lenses. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richcpaman Posted March 6, 2017 Report Share Posted March 6, 2017 B: What ARE you charging this guy? From what you posted, it seems he is full of it, and expects you to clean it up. Rich Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BHoffman Posted March 6, 2017 Author Report Share Posted March 6, 2017 Hi Rich- I'm totally undercharging this guy. The mess he's in now came from his getting scammed into one of those donor advised things back in the 90s. I guess I feel sorry for him, but my sympathy is wearing thin. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BHoffman Posted March 7, 2017 Author Report Share Posted March 7, 2017 I've suffered enough because the fee for the 1120S was $830 when I've been charging only $375. I'm going full pop on the 1040 with a rental, Sch C, ACA subsidy repayment, Sch D, loss limitations on Sch E2. Film at eleven.... 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FDNY Posted March 7, 2017 Report Share Posted March 7, 2017 1 hour ago, BHoffman said: I've suffered enough because the fee for the 1120S was $830 when I've been charging only $375. I'm going full pop on the 1040 with a rental, Sch C, ACA subsidy repayment, Sch D, loss limitations on Sch E2. Film at eleven.... Yes, you have suffered long enough, gone above and beyond for this client (I know the type, have one of my own). But you can't let him get you down and I would make this negative into a positive for you. Going full pop on the 1040 is a good start. Here's what I do. Find a way to add on an extra $100 to the bill. Donate it to Best Friends Animal Rescue. Feel good about yourself. Next year, your charitable deduction makes you feel good again. It's win, win for you...and the animals. 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BHoffman Posted March 8, 2017 Author Report Share Posted March 8, 2017 It was about a year ago today that my little Mr. Toody passed. I still miss him very much. Good advice 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FDNY Posted March 8, 2017 Report Share Posted March 8, 2017 10 hours ago, BHoffman said: It was about a year ago today that my little Mr. Toody passed. I still miss him very much. Good advice When I lost my last dog little Miss Meggie, a friend/client of mine sent me a plaque with the following words: It came to me that every time I lose a dog they take a piece of my heart with them, and every new dog who comes into my life gifts me with a piece of their heart. If I live long enough, all the components of my heart will be dog, and I will become as generous and loving as they are. Anonymous. Here's to Mr. Toody and Meggie in dog heaven, I'm sure they miss us too. 9 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joanmcq Posted March 12, 2017 Report Share Posted March 12, 2017 I had to put my Sweetie Pie down a week ago. I really am not in the tax prep mood this year at all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lynn EA USTCP in Louisiana Posted March 12, 2017 Report Share Posted March 12, 2017 Oh Joan, I am so very sorry. Cherish the memories. lynn 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rfassett Posted March 12, 2017 Report Share Posted March 12, 2017 2 hours ago, joanmcq said: I had to put my Sweetie Pie down a week ago. I really am not in the tax prep mood this year at all. I am sorry Joan! The second hardest thing I have ever had to do in my life was put down my best friend. I will not give you any false hope of a brighter day soon. It took me 20 years to learn to love another one the way I loved that one. Grief is different for all of us. But it is very real and needs to be dealt with. You will stumble through the rest of tax season and then you need to take some very serious time for reflection. And as Lynn says, bask in the memories. You owe that to Sweetie Pie - and you owe that to Joan. May God bless you in the most unimaginable ways! 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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