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Went to a CPE class last year some time, someone who specialized in complex back-tax issues, tax in bankruptcy issues, etc. Apparently a LOT of his business is repeats; folks who come in every 5-6 years with yet another mess on their hands. One of the folks in the group asked if he didn't get *incredibly* aggravated with these people who obviously do NOT follow advice and end up in hot water time after time. He replied that it did when he first started out. However, he changed his attitude, and now he *looks forward* to "the return of the son of tax problem part 17 the sequel" (my term, not his). The attitude change? Stop thinking of them as "problem clients" and instead see them as "walking annuities!" I am striving to make this change in my head, with sporadic success. lol.

No, it took us a couple of hurricanes to finally reach a decision, so I'm anxious to get this generator installed. But, it's probably good news for the electrician who must be very busy!

A former client of mine called me about two year, to see why his co-workers were getting huge refunds and they made the same, and how come he was getting so little back. I calmly told him, please bring a copy of their tax return to compare them and I will tell you the reason, not happy he asked his workers why they were getting large refunds, and they invited him to visit the Tax Lady (I am not kidding on the name of the business), after he visits the tax preparing couple, he calls me to ask if he should do it. What they were doing was inflating unreimbursed employee expenses and pretty much cooking the books on Sch A, I told my former client, don't do it, one I won't be able to help if you get caught, secondly you could go to jail etc.... Anyway, last year out of the blue, he called me to thank me for discouraging him going through the amendment of his tax return, everyone at his work was caught, were summoned to appear in court and what have you not and they were in deep doodoo. And guess what, the Tax Lady didn't exist because they never signed the amended tax returns.

There are a great, great number of gullible people looking for that pie in the sky windfall. I dealt with one this past tax season. An older gentleman whom I thought would know better was scammed by one of these get rich bogus lottery deals. He had sent them upwards of $100,000 before he brought it to my attention and I stepped in and put a stop to it. His sob story - "they promised me money that my son needed for a brain operation". There will always be someone at the intersection of where need meets greed that is going to be sucked in - hook line and sinker. And it will not always be the dullest tool in the shed. As to these preparers, hang 'em and burn 'em. They need to be made an example.

A visiting grand parent asked his grandson what is this blue pill bottle I found in your medicine cabinet, the grand son replies that is Viagra, so the the grand father asked if he can have one and the grandson replies no, they are too expensive, how expensive the grand father asks, it's $30 a pill, no problem I can pay that, I will leave the $30 under your pillow. The next day the grandson checks his pillow and finds $330, so thinking maybe his grand father misunderstood him, he calls him to clarify things, gramps I said the pills were $30 a pill not $330, grand father replies, the $30 were from me and the $300 was from your grandmother

No one can make anyone else file a joint return against their will, not even a Judge.

A young man was lost wandering in a forest, when he came upon a small house.He knocked on the door and was greeted by an ancient Chinese man with a long, grey beard. "I'm lost," said the man. "Can you put me up for the night?" "Certainly," the Chinese man said, "but on one condition. If you so much as lay a finger on my daughter, I will inflict upon you the three worst Chinese tortures known to man." "Ok," said the man, thinking that the daughter must be pretty old as well, and entered the house. Before dinner, the daughter came down the stairs. She was young, beautiful, and had a fantastic figure. She was obviously attracted to the young man since she couldn't keep her eyes off him during the meal. Remembering the old man's warning, he ignored her and went up to bed alone. But during he night, he could bear it no longer, and sneaked into her room for a night of passion. He was careful to keep everything quiet so the old man wouldn't hear. Near dawn he crept back to his room, exhausted, but happy. He woke in the morning with the feel of pressure on his chest. Opening his eyes he saw a large rock on his chest with a note on it that read, "Chinese Torture 1: Large rock on chest." "Well, that's pretty crappy," he thought. "If that's the best the old man can do then I don't have much to worry about." He picked the boulder up, walked over to the window and threw the boulder out. As he did so he noticed another note on it that read: "Chinese Torture 2: Rock tied to left testicle." In a panic he glanced down and saw the rope that was already getting close to the end.Figuring that a few broken bones was better than castration, he jumped out of the window after the boulder. As he plummeted downward he saw a large sign on the ground that read, "Chinese Torture 3: Right testicle tied to bedpost."

This is a great video to share with teens or even adults that are lost in this world. http://youtu.be/FNXwKGZHmDc

"My wife found out that our dog (a Schnauzer) could hardly hear, so she took it to the veterinarian. The vet found that the problem was hair in the dog's ears. He cleaned both ears, and the dog could then hear fine. The vet then proceeded to tell Andrea that, if she wanted to keep this from recurring, she should go to the store and get some "Nair" hair remover and rub it in the dog's ears once a month. Andrea went to the store and bought some "Nair" hair remover. At the register, the pharmacist told her, "If you're going to use this under your arms, don't use deodorant for a few days." Andrea said, "I'm not using it under my arms." The pharmacist said, "If you're using it on your legs, don't use body lotion for a couple of days." Andrea replied, "I'm not using it on my legs either. If you must know, I'm using it on my Schnauzer." The pharmacist said, "Well, stay off your bicycle for about a week."

I would modify that just a bit. "Today I learned that teenagers are obnoxious." We all love them, yet wonder how any of them survive to adulthood, because we know they deserved capital punishment several times at least.

Today I learned that teenage girls are obnoxious.

Yes, if you know they are the sort that create their own problems, and you know they are not going to change, you can either fire them, or look on it as an opportunity to make a nice high-charge amendment. As long as you charge extra for 'fixing' their mistakes, it should not bother you at all. ;~)

I hope you kept a copy of the 1040X, its schedules, and your calculations so that if they receive a notice, you will already have the calculations done. No point in doing the work twice. When I've had these situations where the client refuses to file the correction, I simply put the completed forms or calcs away with a memo stating that it wasn't given to the client or filed with any agency.

Your comment reminds me of a situation at church several years ago, when the director of our Child Development Center asked my advice about a payroll tax matter. There were only two ways she could handle the matter, one was wrong and the other was correct. I gave her the correct answer, but it involved extra work on her part. A few weeks later, I was speaking with another church member (who was familiar with the situation) when the director of the CDC joined our conversation. She told me she had decided to take the easier route - the one contrary to my advice. Of course she had some very good reasons in her own mind for having done the wrong thing. After she walked away, the person I was originally speaking with asked if it bothered me that she didn't take my advice. I told him the people pay me good money for advice they often don't follow, so why should it bother me if someone fails to follow my advice when it's given freely?

>>> I scolded BOTH of them Sometimes I feel like doing the same to a few of my clients! I hate those who will agree with you and then call back later and flip completely.

I spoke too soon about the t'storms missing us. We just had a whopper of a storm with hail too. It was a small cell that has dissipated already, but there's another line coming through in a couple more hours. Oh joy!

Jack must be on the same email list as my cousin Norma in NC; she sent this to me yesterday. My husband laughed out loud, too (as did both my girls).

Hot, humid, overcast, and rainy. Made me feel better about working on trusts, estates, and partnerships with 15 September deadlines!

Dear RitaB, Your intuition/memory is correct, to a point. Should you prepare the final 6/30/13 returns using 2012 software, you would have to do a lot of manual tweaking to make it good. Extending the return is not the best option, I believe; your shareholder(s)/client need a current-year K-1 -- under current law -- and, the entity should get this done by September 16, 2013 or, if extended, no later than *early* December, 2013 in order to get a *timely* "all clear" certificate from the state tax authority in which the entity is chartered, in order to include that certificate with its application to that state's Secretary of State for a formal dissolution notice. The SoS's with which I'm familar require such an "all clear" tax certificate -- and you can count on the SoS to take some weeks to finalize its own document. I also don't believe you should wait for ATX to issue 'solid' 2013 forms before New Year's Eve -- not only because ATX blew it, last year. Your client/shareholder(s) really don't have the option of waiting til next year; they really must report the entity's results within this year -- AND the entity must be dissolved by New Year's Eve, accordingly. If I were you, I would duplicate the 2012 return as "2013 [client]," and enter the current-year data. If your client's Fixed Assets are as numerous as I infer, you may need to convert the 2012 "4562 Statement" into an Excel spreadsheet, modify it to project the 2013 "short year" depreciation, and use the spreadsheet to inform a Form 4562 with your own totals -- also, to be attached as a Statement to the returns. Such a spreadsheet also will 'inform' the Form 4797 it sounds like you'll be filing. N.B. A current, short-year return cannot be e-filed. Do you have software capable of changing the tax forms' upper righthand corner "2012" into "2013"? You should do that; it's always helped keep things straight, in my experience. I.e., I just filed a client's final 2013 S-corp as I've described -- and have filed a dozen or so, this way, over the years. NO problems. VTY, TaxCPANY