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and turn around and yell at my rear-end to try to keep up. It is really dragging today!

If it is withheld by the employer, and therefore not included in taxable wages, the taxpayer cannot deduct it again on the front of his 1040. It flows to the 8889 to limit the amount of additional contributions that the employee could make on his own outside of payroll deduction. The amount that is code W on the W-2 is "pre-tax" and therefore if CA does not conform it increases the amount of the state wages.

I am not yet being deluged with offers to renew. The software had allowed me to have a lot of overtime at the firm this year. (My boss doesn't see it as positive though...) I have improved my ability to tell customers why it is taking so long without using inappropriate words about the software.

I'm liking the FAM now that I've had time to play around a bit in it. And the three returns open. I was amending some returns in 2010, and it was driving me nuts that I couldn't open two!

My post indicated (or at least I meant for it to indicate) that if the scholarships exceeded the qualified expenses (including but not limited to the ones appearing on the 1098-T) the student had income from scholarships. I guess you are thinking that I think all qualified expenses appear on the Form 1098-T. I do not think that. Books, for example, are qualified expenses for the purpose of reducing taxable scholarships, and they do not appear on the 1098-T. If you look in Pub 970, IRS says things like "qualified expenses for the purpose of blah, blah, blah..." I was trying to talk like them, and apparently not pulling it off in this instance. I know to subtract all qualified expenses, not just the ones appearing on the 1098-T. All "college related expenses" are not deductible for this purpose. For example, my two kids have college related housing, there's no other reason for it, and it's not deductible. Here's an excerpt from Pub 970: Qualified education expenses. For purposes of tax-free scholarships and fellowships, these are expenses for: Tuition and fees required to enroll at or attend an eligible educational institution, and Course-related expenses, such as fees, books, supplies, and equipment that are required for the courses at the eligible educational institution. These items must be required of all students in your course of instruction. Expenses that do not qualify. Qualified education expenses do not include the cost of: Room and board, Travel, Research, Clerical help, or Equipment and other expenses that are not required for enrollment in or attendance at an eligible educational institution.

It is a pre-tax deduction.

That is if they notice it. I had a case once when the client received a CP-2000 because they did not report the 1099-C. The examiner never noticed the 982 at the bottom of the heap. It may be specifically looked for now as it is so much more common. Anyway, all ended well for my client.

I figured it out. There was a button right in front of me that said "attach this file". DUH. 2013 State Due Dates Requirements for filing Extensions.xls

The only extensions I'll be doing are for my hair I will probably wait to April 2 to do my clients.

With the exception of the Print Manager loading slower than I like, I like the overall printing process much better than last year.

And, the proud grandfather (money manager who funded his grandson's account) sent me a picture of his eight-year-old grandson signing his first tax return. Priceless!

KC, Please give jasdlm a warning point for that post!!!!! Seriously, that is the best thing you can come up with to like about the software? Wow, we are easily pleased this year. Tom Hollister, CA

Pretty much the same as you. It is indeed a struggle getting education info and HSA increasingly. "Basis? What's that? Oh, you mean I have to get the name of the organization that I gave all that furniture and clothes to last year? Of course it was worth $800 but I don't know the value. Can't you put it down? Estimated payments - oh, whatever you told me to pay, I paid it." Grrr...

I predict version 12.13 will be available on April 14th and work perfectly!

Given the topic and the context of the post, I think ethnicity is relevant in this case. I can't figure out why you have a problem with it.

I go over the entire return with my clients, too. But I'm still not sure how much sinks in. I get a lot of glassy eye looks.

Cool. Found the little envelope! Thanks.

>>good resource where I can learn more about partnerships<< Pub 541 is a decent intro. It's only a dozen pages but covers the basics, including formation, distributions and other transactions between the entity and the partners. Remember that joint ownership of rental property is not necessarily a partnership. See how the attorney writes it up before you make decisions.

I suggest a slightly different strategy. File extensions immediately as the returns come in the door after your cutoff date (mine began 2 weeks ago). That keeps the pressure off, and it allows you to better prioritize as the deadline approaches. Personally, I think this allows me to get more returns finished between now and Apr 15 because there's no pressure. For me Apr 15 has become just another day on the calendar. I usually come in late, spend a few hours reviewing extensions and calling a few people to be sure they paid their balance due, and go home early. Ron, your approach achieves the same result, but what happens if somebody gets sick or other unavoidable delays happen around the 12-14th? I learned this the hard way years ago when a business partner had a heart attack during the final week. The next year, I became proactive with extensions and have done that ever since. There are a couple of other advantages as well. Sometimes you have a client who gets really unnerved about extensions. You flush that out early in the process and then can make a good decision about whether he's worth making an exception or do you want to take the chance that he will go elsewhere. You're not dealing with his obsessiveness under deadline pressure. The other benefit is with those who's work comes in after the deadline, you tell them they're going on extension, but they still call, text, or email to ask "How's it coming?" My answer is always "I filed your extension, will get back to you after Apr 15." End of discussion. For me, this works quite well.

Now that is funny! Sort of like the day care provide on Car Talk - Urasus Dragon.

Davis Vet school may be one of the toughest to get into as well. Congrats. Tom Hollister, CA

But them on hold and not come back. They have wasted much more time of mine and did not care. Really I would not do this but would be fun. I will be surprised to see what happens for 2013 with them. Will they even still be offering ATX? I know we have to spend money to make money. So I do not have a problem with the prices of most of the good tax software companies (Lacerte and Ultra too much for my size). But I do expect: A. A working product B. If the above does not work it should be replaced or fixed at once (In the case of a time sensivetive product). C. When calling support for help with the broken product not to be hung up on. D. After being told on more than one occassion we will be releasing and update to fix that then they actually do just that. I have said this before what really happen at ATX is they did not handle the problem/crises correctly. But I will never understand how they released something as broken as it is, knowing it was broken. They should have given us all the option in Jan/Feb to move to Tax Wise, Pro System or get our money back and go else where. But instead they jerked us a long for weeks/months knowing they did not have a fix.

HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA THATS ALL I HAVE TO SAY ABOUT THAT

Skeptical, I am. Trash, they have sold us. Star Wars movies, too many I watch...