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Follow the link Catherine posted.

I would be very interested in viewing your presentation. Can you provide a link? Thanks

They don't come to us before. Before the divorce. Before dividing assets. Before dividing children. Even my own son left all his tax return copies that I uploaded to my portal for him to give his lawyer, so his lawyer saw nothing about their partnership, nothing about the tax returns before his ex quit working, nothing about all the monies they took out of his Roth to run the partnership and to live off while the ex's TIRA kept growing, nothing. Sorry, tired and cranky today!

I called the direct number that my sales consultant gave me and it says that it's out of order. I shot him an email. I hope that he's still there. He's been a constant help the past few years that I've had him.

I agree with Judy (which is almost always the case!). I don't know that he will be better off if he took investments at the same value because we don't know the basis of the investments that he got. But for sure she gets full basis in their combined hands to calculate the gain and then 250K tax free of that gain. I don't see him getting 250K tax free gain from the investments. It could be her lawyer got her a better deal because the investments are very low basis and he will have a bigger tax bill because of it. If it was my client, I would stay out of questioning the divorce settlement. She had a lawyer to protect her interests and what came out of that is now fact. Looking back at the divvy up of assets will only run you down a rabbit hole you have no business sniffing around. Not telling you how to run your practice, but I am telling you how I would run your practice, because, well, you asked..... Tom Longview, TX

^^ This! Your client's basis is now the basis she and former spouse had as a joint couple, and there is no step-up. She is now selling as sole owner so the exclusion is only the $250K, assuming she meets the requirements for the full exclusion she is allowed.

Divorced client tells me (in advance - hooray!) of her plans to sell (in 2024) the house she got in the divorce that was final in 2023. She asked about tax repercussions of that plus some other queries. In response I asked if she bought him out, or if there was an agreement to share proceeds of the sale. Neither! She got the house and in exchange he got more of their investment assets. Total value of assets was the same. My first thought is that she gets 100% of the gain with only $250k exclusion and no step-up for "his" portion of the house. But that's just a first thought. Pub 504 and Code Section 1041 talk about basis in the property being the same as if it was a gift from one spouse to the other, with nothing about any step-up even being possible. Yet that seems to leave her with a bigger tax bill than he'll have from their investments. Making me wonder if I should be asking if there was anything in the divorce agreement that talks about equalizing basis. Any advice/references/thoughts for me?

After using ATX for many years, I switched to Drake mid-season during the 2012 filing season debacle. Support is excellent (if not quite as good as it was before Phil Drake retired). Not quite as intuitive but the search box works really well. No bunny-hop endless circles as I ran into in ATX on too many occasions. If you switch, you get (or at least always used to get; ask about current terms) the current-season software free to roll over returns, or re-create them (to learn how the s/w works), plus prior-year programs free. I don't use Portals but use Verifyle instead. Gruntworx - that was once standalone but got bought by Drake and integrated with it years ago - is something I now consider essential but rarely use more than the non-verified (i.e., automated) bookmarked/indexed pdf creator. It makes methodical entries far easier, but the best use is looking for substantiating documents for the tax agency "send us proof of withholding" type letters. Boom, found in an instant, instead of endless searches through vaguely-named pdf's. It also has The Tax Book as an integrated add-in but I prefer the standalone version. Pricing has been remarkably stable. This year there is a price break for single-user offices (like mine) which I like. TL;DR version: jumping in the deep end worked and while it's not perfect I would not go back to ATX.

I believe this is it (I've asked the hosting group for confirmation, too). https://www.bigmarker.com/tax-practice-pro-inc1/When-1040s-Go-Wrong-Navigating-a-Tax-Train-Wreck

It's rounded to nearest $50.

But you need to know the formula for calculating. They usually involve accumulating inflation amounts until they reach a certain threshold, before an increase is allowed. So prior year calculated amounts that weren't enough are added to the current year calculation, if they didn't reach that threshold in the prior year(s).

How can that be though? The amounts for 2024 are exactly double at $4,150/$8,300, so applying the same inflation percentage should result in the amount for 2025 family being exactly double that of single coverage if what you say is true. Something else must be factored in because the amounts for 2023 weren't exactly double either. The 2023 amounts were $3,850/$7,750.

I switched to Drake in the 2017 tax season after using ATX for almost 20 years. No regrets. Patrick is correct, it's not as intuitive. Sometimes, it can get frustrating trying to find a specific worksheet. Their diagnostics are very thorough but can sometimes be frustrating to understand.

Congrats! It's a shame Microsoft was so tricky in getting you to "upgrade." My new computer came with 11 and it's annoying and took me awhile to tame, but it works and seems to be getting better with each update. But the average user wouldn't want to have to deal with taming a new OS.

must be tied to inflation and the way the numbers are rounded off.

Been with Drake for over 20 years and am very happy with it. There is a little bit of a learning curve as it is not always intuitive. Customer support, although not as good as used to be, is still very good. Usually answer in a couple of rings. A lot of new people answering now and don't always have the answer right away but are very good at calling back within a day. I really like the macros that you can write to automate the routine data entry that has to be entered on every return, saves a lot of time. I don't believe Drake low balls you for the first year. I have always paid the same with small increases over the years. It integrates well with Grunt Works and their portal, although not perfect, is good and works well with the tax program. The portal has gone up in price quite a bit over the past few years and I will be looking for a replacement for next year. I do mainly 1040's with a couple of simple 1120's and a 990. I have heard that Drake does not handle multi state business returns as well as the higher priced programs. PM me if you have any specific questions.

I had two tickets opened with ATX. The best solution is to override. I don't like overriding but I hope efile likes it. I doubt anyone using ATX has given this juicy credit (70% of Federal EIC) to his/her clients. No warnings, no alerts, NOTHING from ATX when you have missed this credit. This is my work around. I save after I created the efile file for the federal return. Then I go to SS# and change the first 9 to a 7. Then I go to all EIC questions and forms and filled them out. That will calculate the EIC on the federal. Let's say that number is $6,000 for 2 children. I write down $6,000 in a piece of paper, change back the the first 7 on the ss# to a 9 and save the return. (It seems you have to prove that the person qualifies with all the IRS except SS# for the DC credit). You go to DC D40 type a number on box 27a and override it to 2 (children). You go to line 27c and enter a number and then click override and then enter 6000. Then go to Line 27d enter a number to invoke the override command and type 4200. Save the return and business as usual. You have recover $4,200 to your client.

"Taxpayers with a high deductible health plan can deduct up to $4,300 ($8,550 for family coverage)." Why not double the solo coverage amount to $8,600 for family?

Thanks to all who responded. I was able to recover Windows 10 in about 15 minutes once I figured out how to do it. Abby, the information in the link was really great - step by step for someone not very good at I T stuff.

yes pleaasee - link thx d/WI

I just paid $19.75 a week ago!

I am have been with ATX since the Saber.. However, the early renewal for Drake is very appealing! We tried it - it is workable. I know some of you have switched - Should I chance it? Atx is 3x the cost - what is the cost of Drake the 2nd year? What will be the downside? Please let me know if you would Thank you, D /WI

How lucky can we get?

So it will be $11 until the third party contract is renegotiated in 2026 at which time the PTIN fee will probably be revised again. https://www.thetaxadviser.com/news/2024/may/regulations-finalize-ptin-fees-for-tax-return-preparers.html#:~:text=The IRS arrived at the,training%2C supplies%2C and overhead.

AI Overview Here's how to find the version of Windows you have: Click the Windows Start menu Select Settings (the cog icon) Select System Select About You'll see the edition and what version of Windows you have Generative AI is experimental.