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>>reasonable and easily verified requirements<< Because it can be used for recreational purposes, a cat is listed property. No deduction allowed unless you keep a contemporaneous log book of time spent playing with a string.

Purrfect reply.

I used TaxWorks for the last two years and didn't like it at all. TaxExact is more to my liking. I had used ATX since about 1993 and if you could do a tax return with pencil and paper, you could do it with ATX. With TaxWorks, the worksheets threw me for a loop. They didn't follow logic for me, but that is probably due to my age. Older people think differently from younger people. Also with TaxWorks, you couldn't override entries. You had to search through the worksheets to find a box that was or wasn't checked. TaxExact is more like ATX as for entry. I know there is still a lot of work that needs to me done on TaxExact, but I am confident that it will be done and on time. I expect problems, but that would be true for any software, at least for any that I can afford.

Pawsibly.

Ooh, that's good stuff. I better start taking notes.

But after the OIH deduction is simplified, will they still be able to deduct food and vet bills for their "security cat" who guards their inventory?

I just paid $150 to buy my "kids" a refrigerator as a Christmas present to keep their home-made cat food. They own a bakery/coffee shop/restaurant and need to keep rodents out of their flour bin. I prepare their partnership tax return. May I deduct $150 as a business expense on my Schedule C?!

Doug, We are betting our practices and reputations on this product. Not to mention my sanity....which according to my wife I havent had a good grip on in years.

>>low hanging tax prep work<< Sadly, you are probably right. It will be just like when cheap home microwaves destroyed the fast food business, so the only restaurants left are the fancy clubs.

Wendy, my Windows 8 upgrade is still in its shrink wrap. I am not going to risk unstable operating system this tax season. I am very happy with my windows XP pro and will keep it that way until the software forces me. I had a very bad experience 3 years back when I listened to Microsoft and went to Vista. What a nighmare that was in the middle of tax season.

It will probably have a few reasonable and easily verified requirements, like the cat has to have expended two of the past five lives in the line of duty and be a full time student at an accredited obedience school. Probably attach coroner's reports to Form 8453. Piece of cake, much like EIC has been.

I could not find a worksheet to input K1 income? Is that under development. Without that there will be major mistakes creating Sch E, part 2.

It may be that the IRS may be more interested in the PTIN requirement than anything else to enable them to implement a new policy of assuming there are no crooked taxpayers, ONLY CROOKED TAX PREPARERS. With the PTIN and the RTPR requirement, the IRS now has more information to use in selecting preparers to be audited.

Your respect for IRS or lack thereof is irrelevant. I share some of your opinions about them. But the fact remains that no matter what your opinion of them may be, you'll fall in line or be out of business. You're already their data entry clerk, you've been forced to not only prepare the return but also to accept responsbility for timely filing, and you're already making decisions about such things as EIC while looking over your shoulder, so it's just a matter of time until you're their de facto auditor. I'm not trying to convince you - future Circular 230 changes will do that job. I can't help it if you insist on burying your head in the sand just because you don't like what I say. .

Now I feel special!! Lol!

>>take a snapshot of your W2<< I routinely prepare returns with copies sent by fax or email. Gee, some companies ONLY issue a pdf W-2. >>they file your return over the phone<< I do that, too, especially for clients in another city or state. A simple return with a single W-2 doesn't really require an organizer, just an interview from a worksheet. I have clients I haven't seen in years, and once I had a client I never did see.

I don't think the RTRP program is bull at all. They just overreached a little at the outset in getting it up and running. You haven't yet seen the end result although they are telegraphing plenty of signs. Once the bugs are worked out and it's streamlined a little more, you will begin to get instructions on exactly how you are expected to audit the client's return as a part of the filing process. Of course, you can choose not to do the government's work for them, under pain of severe financial penalties and loss of the RTRP status & your livelihood. IRS knows you can't just drop a frog into boiling water - you just gradually turn the heat up until he's cooked.

The RTRP program (I have complied with CPE and the test) is the biggest joke since Y2K. It is nothing but a money grab by the IRS. All the expense and time I spent complying has only given me one thing I did not already have.... The ability to put RTRP after my name. No additional privileges with the IRS for my clients above being unregistered. Now I see where the IRS relented and did NOT ENFORCE the CPE requirements for 2012. I also know that people who did not renew until after Dec. 31, 2012 were not even questioned about being late. (Two people in my office...) None of these steps will accomplish any of the state purpose which is "To ensure that people preparing paid returns are knowledgable and qualified to prepare accurate returns and to reduce the filing of fraudulent returns." The whole program is Male Bovine Scat!!

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