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Trust me when I say that the WHOLE company at ATX is consumed and driven to release a dependable, working product. The conversations I had at the CAB were deep and revealed to me their dedication to do it right. Lots of new faces, several old faces gone and an entirely different attitude. Stand by, I will give you my recommendations as soon as I have done as much testing as they will allow me to do. When I decide, you can rest assured I will have viable and extensively explained reasons for my recommendations.

If you want common sense and logic, you are in the wrong business. Tax law has never in my memory been based on common sense and logic.

This reminds me of the man who betted his attorney he would pee on the IRS agent papers. 87 year old Grandpa is summoned to the IRS office for an audit. The IRS auditor was not surprised when Grandpa showed up with his tax adviser. The auditor said, ‘Well, sir, you have an extravagant lifestyle and no full time employment, which you explain by saying that you win money gambling. I’m not sure that I find that believable.’ I’m a great gambler, and I can prove it,’ says Grandpa. ‘How about a demonstration?’ The auditor thinks for a moment and said, ‘Okay. Go ahead.’ Grandpa says, ‘I’ll bet you a thousand dollars that I can bite my own eye.’ The auditor thinks a moment and says, ‘It’s a bet.’ Grandpa removes his glass eye and bites it. The auditor’s jaw drops. Grandpa says, ‘Now, I’ll bet you two thousand dolars that I can bite my other eye.’ Now the auditor can tell Grandpa isn’t blind, so he takes the bet. Grandpa removes his dentures and bites his good eye. The stunned auditor now realizes he has wagered and lost three grand, with Grandpa’s tax adviser as a witness. He starts to get nervous. ‘Want to go double or nothing?’ Grandpa asks ‘I’ll bet you six thousand dollars that I can stand on one side of your desk, and pee into that wastebasket on the other side, and never get a drop anywhere in between.’ The auditor, twice burned, is cautious now, but he looks carefully and decides there’s no way this old guy could possibly manage that stunt, so he agrees again after checking a couple of details about the bet. Grandpa stands beside the desk and unzips his trousers, but although he strains mightily, he can’t make the stream reach the wastebasket on the other side, so he pretty much urinates all over the auditor’s desk. The auditor leaps with joy, realizing that he has just turned a major loss into a huge win. But Grandpa’s tax adviser moans and puts his head in his hands. ‘Are you okay?’ the auditor asks. ‘Not really,’ says the tax adviser. ‘This morning, when Grandpa told me he’d been summoned for an audit, he bet me twenty five thousand dollars that he could come in here and pee all over your desk and that you’d be happy about it!’

I'm sticking with ATX. They had one bad year, and from everything I have read and heard, they will be much improved.

I'm going through the exchange, and don't qualify for any subsidies or credits (unless I opt to insure my employee, which I can't afford right now & besides she'll qualify for Medi-Cal under the new law). I'm excited that I will be able to BUY insurance at a much less cost than the former high-risk pool.

It is interesting to me to note that the Secretary of HHS has stated that there is a risk of identity theft in ACA, especially at the start-up. With a projected 14 million working people losing their medical coverage (8 million by HHS) because of the employers adjusting for the increased costs and then going on the exchanges, identity theft could be an issue.

DISCLAIMER. I made this up. It is not true. Maybe it could be true. Maybe it should be true. But it isn't. I made it up. Losses Prove It’s a Business When the IRS challenged one taxpayer’s consulting business, he decided to use his business skills to fight back. John Bethesda developed classes to teach card counting, probability theory, and other mathematical approaches to gambling. Because of high travel costs his expenses exceeded income for several years. The IRS characterized it as a hobby under the presumption that losing money for three years shifts the burden of proof to the taxpayer. Bethesda cited Small Business Administration and Treasury Department statistics that show that 85% of all new businesses fail within three to five years. He argued that his losses proved that he is in the majority of activities defined as a business. The probability of his failure is a normal and expected business pattern. The Tax Court agreed after the IRS was unable to present any additional evidence. IRS attorneys said they would not appeal because the odds of winning were low.

One of the most overlooked security problems is your pets. Dogs are loyal but they don't understand the larger picture and can be, well, petty. As for giving them an RFID chip, are you nuts? Cats just don't care one way or another, so never let them know important things like how long the house will be empty. You can trust horses as much as you can trust any blackmailer. Birds of course are such gossips we have cliches like sing and tweet for tattletale. That's why I only have a goldfish.

I don't think you will be able to negotiate down on the $14K Trust Fund Penalty. From what I have read, IRS is not backing down on that and as you know that survives bankruptcy. You may catch a break with a OIC for the rest of the balance due, interest and penalties. If this was my client I would refer them to an experienced professional who had dealt with OIC involving trust funds.