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This the first year we put up a nativity scene along with our tree.

You are such an honest person. Why didn't you just delete your original post and state something like "did you see the fire ball that was seen on several states?"

That's what it's all about.

Forget it! Turns out that instead of putting it on my credit card (which I always do), this year I paid for it thru my checking account. (Now I feel real stupid!)

There are two kinds of backups -- data and "cold metal restore." The first is the easy kind - and the easiest to automate. It's the kind that Mozy, Carbonite, iDrive, and others will do online daily (or more often). The other gives you all your executables (programs) and doesn't need to be done daily -- but certainly after major updates. Those are the ones that will put all your software back on a new machine. Then import your data from the data backup. Old saying in the field -- electronic devices run on smoke. You let the smoke out, they stop working. Permanently.

But that first post could be edited to be something totally innocuous. I have to admit though, that did not even occur to me until I read Pacun's post.

I am in business with my mother, who is now 80 years old and wants to slow down (go figure!) So I am going to be looking to hire someone at least part time to take over her workload. And while I may wind up going back to ATX, we are going to try ProSeries. I felt like I needed to decide before we heard anything from the Beta testers, so we could get ahead (HA!) of the learning curve. And I am finally planning to leave the country on vacation! If nothing happens to change my plans, I am going to Jamaica in May with a friend who is from there. For me, taking a vacation out of the country without my husband is pretty daring!

I don't understand when it became possible for us to ignore an IRS ruling just because we don't like it. EITC aside, There are many IRS rulings that we don't like, disagree with and/or resent. However, our obligation is to prepare tax returns in accordance with the law; practice due diligence and do the best job that we possibly can for each and every client, within the guidelines of the IRS. If I know and believe that a client is entitled to EITC, I will prepare their returns too. I don't think it is part of our jobs to judge or envy anyone. Some might make much more money than I do, but a whole lot of them make less and deserve the same consideration in the preparation of their tax returns as the wealthy do when we try to find every deduction, etc that we can to lower their tax liability. IMO, every client's return is just as important as my own and will be prepared accordingly. Wishing all of you a very prosperous and happy New Year.

That is a false choice. Like if you said "I don't like coffee" and I came back with "Would you rather drink poison?"

Because of the onset of tax season, I still find some miscellaneous little decorations still hanging around in June.

This is really the problem. The IRS is having the largest problem not with "Paid" preparers, but with "unpaid" buy the TurboTax box and prepare as many returns as you can until TurboTax quits accepting them from that box, and go buy another one. I'm sorry, the problem isn't in those folks with a PTIN. Its in the folks who DON"T HAVE TO HAVE THEM, and are preparing fraudulent returns. And I am TIRED of being compared to CROOKS. Kim Hawkins can kiss my ass. She needs to use her resources to go against those who are commiting CRIMES, not searching around in my files for a missing birth certificate.... Which, I can tell you, I haven't a single one in my files. /rant off. Rich

My clients are welcome to call me all year round. As a matter of fact I tell them that before they do something that may impact their taxes (getting divorced, buying a property etc.) to call me. I rather deal with it before they make a big boo boo down the road. I have at least 3 other fellows that I know of within a 10 mile radius that do taxes out of their home. This is a small town and word gets around. For the most part I do not lose clients to chain stores. What I lose I usually make up within a season or two by way of referrals. I am now doing the 3rd. generation of a few clients. For my more complex tax returns (rentals, Sch C, Sch D), I show them what I have to do to get it as accurate as possible and that takes time so it will cost a bit more than your average 1040 with Sch A.

MsTabbyKats, looks like we have all been attending the same IRS pep talk seminars. I will not be turned into a government law enforcement officer until they put me on their payroll. I am an income tax preparer. Over the past years, something is shifting in their treatment of our profession. We are now working under constant threat of severe penalties, suspension of our PTIN, and disgrace. Since the sophistication of computer technology, the tax laws have become so crazy, that even professionals will arrive at different outcomes when preparing the exact same tax return. Sometimes we are at the mercy of the quality of the tax prep software that we purchase. We have an adversarial relationship with the IRS and now our clients. I can remember when kids didn't have SS numbers; I prepared returns with a pencil and calculator; i had a wall of reference books with weekly replacement pages sent to keep them updated;I would call the IRS help centers and their answers were usually flat out wrong. And it was all kinda fun. I did fewer returns, but made more money per return. To be profitable today, we must operate like a factory. Don't get me wrong, we still find ways to have fun, enjoy our clients and take pride in our work. It helps to have a network of peers who understand the pressure and offer real solutions to problem situations. That's what I find here. I will continue to fight the good fight. Bring it on!