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seems like I became a ATX Supreme Master today!!! My staff of 15 are all gone and i am here alone, maybe they are planning a surprise party in the lobby when I leave.

In return manager, click on forms, then choose "customize master" Open the 1040EF INFO page and put an x in the "declines" box. Save it. Now any new returns will have that box checked as default.

I know its a simple as that... But why do I have to "opt-OUT" instead of "opt-IN"?

less than a minute and a half. bird (crow?) *sledding* down a roof, using a bottle cap as a sled

You have a real problem, IMHO, claiming these people as dependants, given what you just told us. If she was claimed by someone else, last year, the odds are really high that she did not move in with the new guy on 1/1/13, in which case she and the kids do not meet the very strict requirements for non-related dependants. Also, are you clear now that even if he could claim them as dependants, he can not claim HOH ?

The problem with quickbooks is that you will be charged a monthly minimum unless you are an advisor. I only need the service for the three months out of the year, so it is not cost effective for me at all.

Jack, you can see the overview, rates, tech specs, faqs here: http://payments.intuit.com/payment-processing/ It does require the latest version, Quickbooks 2014. I'd use this but I'm still on v 2011 and not interested in paying Intuit for an upgrade to collect by credit card.

100% of all payroll DONE as of 9:00PM yesterday. Federal and State. Those that waited till yesterday to send me information are experiencing a 50% increase in the fees! If I pull off miracles, they are gonna pay....

If you waited till the 31st to pay, the earliest date that it would show effective wouldnbe 2/4 anyway. You have to initiate payment by 5 pm eastern the day before due date or it will be late.

I'll save you the trouble. The rule you are remembering is on page 17 of the Instructions for Form 1040 (and in Pub 501). It clarifies that the children are not qualifying children of any taxpayer because (in your case) the mother is not required to file a tax return. That allows the unrelated boyfriend to claim them as qualifying relatives for dependent exemptions, but it still does not allow Head of Household. By the way, I don't think you should be discussing this with the father, unless your client has signed a disclosure form. Meanwhile, don't promise your client a quick refund if the father files first.

That and hot cocoa and pancakes are absolute necessities on snow days!

can you believe it - about 10:30 pm cst? do they not know the date? silly people!

E-filed my first 2 1040 returns last night after checking with others who were getting them back accepted. Got mine this morning accepted. Sent up another 20 this morning at 8:30. The IRS system seem to be working okay. Still waiting on NY but have heard they are already posting checks.

E-file this year is lightning fast! I hesitated to send any till Monday, but tested one out yesterday, went thru fast. Got all mine ready this AM, sent them and already have acceptance. I've never experienced an opening season like this!

Very true. And that's why I cited the actual tax code itself, which DOES in fact mean it is the way it is. You also believe, "it does not say 100% it cannot happen as HOH," but I already quoted the actual language that DOES say so. Well, I don't know what your game is, but since you have finally stated that they lived together all year, I will fulfill my promise by telling you how to audit-proof this return. First, unless your client is married use filing status of Single. Do not claim any of the four tax benefits that require a qualifying child, including Head of Household, EIC, CTC, and Form 2441. Second, recognize that "random guy" has already declared under penalty of perjury that the mother did NOT join your client during 2012. Obviously that was done with the mother's agreement; you say "they" only claimed one child. So she is being inconsistent. Months after leaving her old boyfriend, she helped him file a fraudulent return with her own SSN! You have minimal proof of residence, so boost it with at least a couple of items dated in 2012. Third, Complete the worksheet on page 16 of Pub 501 for EACH dependent. Make a good faith effort to include support or gifts from the father, welfare, and any other resource for the family. For housing costs, the worksheet allows only 1/4 of fair rental value regardless of actual costs such as mortgage or utilities. That's what it takes. Of course, I'm only teasing you. Just like last year this is an EIC fraud return, which of course only works if they can file HoH. So like I said before, do whatever you want, friend!

Thank you to all of you for the great information. I think a tablet and a reader are coming in the next year. Probably a "black Friday" special next year. I am locked in for this year with my current carrier, but I am dumping them at the end of the contract. This is a great topic and I appreciate all of your input. Tom Hollister, CA

Confirmed by Tech Support....duplicate the return, transmit the "new" e-file...good to go.....SOOOO...if you have any e-files that appear to be stuck in a status of "Transmitted to EFC", check the ATX web site e-file status. If the return info does not appear, then your e-file was never actually received by EFC. You will need to duplicate the return and create / transmit the e-file from the new duplicate return.

The short answer is you'll report a sale. Then you get into business, personal, recourse, primary residence, etc.?

Another trick to try is to make a change to the return -- ANY change, even printing a page. Then save the return. That will set the e-file already "sent" as "REJECTED" (because you changed the return). Then you'll be able to re-create and re-efile.

You might think so, based on Pub 590. But the Tax Court said, "Petitioners' interpretation is incorrect and not in line with this Court's previous opinions regarding section 408(d)(3)(B ), the plain language of section 408(d)(3)(B ), or the legislative history of section 408." That's pretty tight. By the way, the taxpayer was an attorney specializing in taxation so I don't expect anyone else can ever win this.

I had the same problem last week. When I discussed it with support they could not understand the problem. We went to computer sharing and I was showing the problem to them. Sometimes it did the auto fill of the name and sometimes it did not. We could not create the exact circumstances to have it fail all the time. Report it to support to let them know that it is happening in other computers.

No kidding. I haven't upgraded for a long time. Guess I better upgrade before completing returns!

I really don't know. I've gotten most of my clients to use direct trustee to trustee transfers when they chose to change banks/brokers. You really want to look this up yourself if you're going to sign your name to it.

Can't lay my hands on an agreement quickly, but from memory, it's something like 25 cents per transaction plus 1.6 % on the dollar amount without a swipe. Lower with a swipe to my computer. Higher with no swipe using a mobile device. And -- maybe -- a swipe on a mobile device comes in cheaper than NO swipe on my computer. But, the mobile device doesn't fit well on my iPhone unless I remove the case or use an extension (not to mention that my phone's usually zipped in my purse in another room), so it's faster to type it into my computer. I don't have very many people that charge. I do few but often expensive returns, so some clients want to charge to get airline miles or cash back or whatever. So, I end up paying very little in fees for the convenience of getting my money fast and not having to drive to the bank (I'm out in the boonies, so everything is a twenty-minute drive) or invoice people. I have some clients who give me their charge info over the telephone so I can mail their returns or their kid/employee can pick up or my husband can deliver. I also have a PayPal link on my website, and maybe one person a year uses that to pay me.

I usually just make a smiley face when I get coffee. It's impossible to make anything that looks like my signature with a regular touch screen.

Seems that you have two different versions of ATX2013 on your computer somehow. One of your icons on the desktop goes to one, and there is a path to a different one via another route. Sounds weird, but it happens. If you have a network, you may need to start over... Rich

You expect your position to be challenged, but you are not worried even though you are not able to support it? And you get upset when an expert gives you the advice you asked for. It sounds to me like you are still confusing dependent exemption with filing status. I think you misunderstood what you read, or it may have been something from before the law changed. Or it may have been wrong, even if it was somewhere on the IRS website. [Yesterday I reported something that the IRS itself challenged in court even though it was from their own publication .] Please tell us how the mother filed in 2012, and when she separated from the father. Then we will tell you how to audit-proof this return. Because based on what you have told us so far, I think the professional at Jackson Hewitt is correct.

My IT person has always cautioned me to NEVER let my computer go to sleep. He always says if you have a laptop, work with it plugged in as much as possible and shut off the sleep mode and avoid hibernation as much as you can. Causes all sorts of problems.

Make sure your computer does not sleep or hibernate. If the computer goes to sleep, when you wake it up, ATX does not always wake up, causing that problem. I have never had that problem, but it has been discussed on the other forum.

ATX Kriten said there is a box you have to check in 2013 on the asset entry screen asking if the vehicle is leased before you can enter the amounts.

A local coffee shop recently switched out their regular swipe terminal for a tablet with square. Rather than an expensive stand, they got a cover that uses the cover to fold behind it to prop it up on the counter. My parents own a small frame shop / art supply store, and they're thinking about making the same switch. I recommended any of the Samsung Galaxy Note tablets to use with it, because they have active digitizers, which is a nerdy way to say that they support pressure sensitive and very accurate styluses, which makes note taking/drawing/signatures a much nicer experience. Intuit has a similar service called gopayment or something like that, but I don't know about USB/laptop compatibility. I know intuit does sell a USB card reader for $70, so maybe that could work?

Anytime you have a file that was converted, there is a chance for issues. Makes no difference who the original tax program was. It is the major reason I and the firm chose to stay with ATX for 2013. I will have 100% rollover at the firm and my private practice for 2013.

I have not started processing any returns yet. I told all my people I am waiting till Feb. 3 to start processing. None of my clients returns will be eaten in the inevitable e-file system crash at the IRS. Just waiting to hear about it. It has become an annual event. I will not submit any e-files before Feb. 4. I see no need to rush...

This is what I would do in this situation. I would prepare a 1065 for testing on the fly and from scratch. You know what you are looking for so, just enter the few numbers that will give you a loss and you should see if the conversion is at fault. Also, I would make a copy of this return in 2012 and work on it then save it and roll over both returns. Welcome back. Based on the performance I have seen from ATX2013 so far, I lot of people will return to ATX next year.

from here on out you are on my ignore list.

Yes, Mashburn, I think you've made your point. Unless we were there, we can only base our opinions on the news reports and pictures that have been circulating around the internet and what friends are telling us.

Mashburn. Enough already.

I couldn't find a USB version on their website. Here is the page that shows the compatible devices: https://squareup.com/help/en-us/article/3887-features-and-device-compatibility I also found Square Cash that involves emailing money to anyone's debit card. I did not explore it further, but here is the link: https://square.com/cash

http://money.cnn.com/2014/01/31/pf/taxes/tax-season/index.html

No refund schedule last year. Just the "where's my refund?" services thru IRS.

Jack and I have referred you to Pub 501 and the Instructions for Form 1040. See IRC Section 2-2(b ) if you need a legal citation. Not a word has changed since 2005. It sounds like your firm has some unhappy history with separated parents, so ask around the office. And don't shoot the messenger. Rules for Head of Household are on page 13 of the Instructions. They say "do not include... Any person who is your dependent only because he or she lived with you for all of 2013." This is exactly your client's situation--since his girlfriend and the children are not actually related to him, he can only claim them as dependents under the rule for "any other person... who lived with you all year."

The reason I started with the iPod (touch) was to have all the benefits of a smart phone without the montly bill (or the phone). You can probably pick up an older one for a low price. Not free, but no montly charges, either.

Debts discharged through bankruptcy are not taxable. However,if the bank sends a 1099C ( and I have seen some come after 7 [seven] years), it should have bankruptcy stated on it. Do Not amend the return. Wait for a CP2000 letter from the AUR unit, which may or may not happen. Then, respond to the letter with the 982 form showing the debt discharged. If you amend the return it will be rejected and marked as Duplicate return as there will not be any change in the tax due (or refund)

FOR JACK FOR YOU BOTH

Yes, it can be used on Android and iOS tablets.

I HAVE NO BALLOONS, WILL POPCORN DO?

I didn't get no party..... (pouting in the corner....)

It is a known fact that the #1 comfort food in a snow storm is French Toast. Thus the need to run out and buy milk, eggs, and bread.

According to the Instructions for Form 1099-C (for the issuer), "You are not required to report a debt discharged in bankruptcy unless you know from information included in your books and records that the debt was incurred for business or investment purposes." Assuming the subject debts were indeed discharged in the BK (which of course we can't assume), they would probably have no tax effect anyway.