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Several weeks ago, my 2002 XP machine refused to boot. That is no longer my main computer but it has a lot of information on it and several useful programs that I still use. In fact, it has every program and files for ATX/Saber on it back through 1999. I was told everything from failed hard drive to dead battery to bad files. Due to some extremely sad circumstances and other issues, my IT friend couldn't get to me until last night. My greatest pain was not being able to access my labels and business cards on Print Shop 5. I had them all saved on a jump drive, but that version of Print Shop was not compatible with Win 7 and the new Print Shop Program that I purchased was not compatible with those old files. What to do? He finally got to me last night. He manually booted into startup. He then changed the order of the boot up drives so that it would boot to the CD. He inserted his disk for the backup/restore program we use and was able to restore the entire system intact from a recent external HD backup that I had made. I look across the room at that lit-up monitor and just smile. Even if the hard drive had failed, he could have done the same thing because I had a good current backup in the safe. As it was, it turned out to be a corrupt boot file. Please, please always remember to back up your files. On the computers I use every day, I have alternating drives for complete system backups and , as I have stated often enough, I export each and every file to a jump drive that lives in my machine all day. Every time I make a major change to a return, I do another export. In all of my years, I have never had this happen, but I had a good teacher and I was a good student. You will never know the pain until it happens to you; nor experience the joy of seeing your system come back to life. The program that we use is a simple little free program called EaseUS ToDo Backup and is installed and updated on every one of my machines. This is a happy day.

I want to add to the above - Since your client knows the rules and this cleaning person supposedly knows the rules, your client should not be writing any more checks to this person until the W-9 is received. The loss of income should be significant enough to this person to compel compliance. If the person still refuses, your client should find a legitimate cleaning service.

You seem pretty torn up over this. Calm down. Read my post above yours. Relax. Breathe. And I still love YOU, even though you yell at me like this. I like abuse.

Got up early this morning and dropped a 15lb brisket on the grill. Supper is served at 1:30 today. Thanks to the weatherman for giving me a break in the much needed rain to get my grillin' on. Last night I made a 4 layer German Chocolate cake for my wife and son, who celebrate birthdays this week. Today is a good day. Tom Hollister, CA

There's an app for that!

Drake and I have become friends. I feel good at the end of each day. I know my program will open quickly, work smoothly and give me no trouble! Wow! Once I accepted that it was time for a change and I settled into a routine, I am actually able to concentrate on my clients and their taxes. Nice not to have a knot in my stomach from the stress of wondering what ATX would do / or not do next. Support is quick to answer and very helpful. I am finishing returns in much less time than I have in years. I didn't realize how slow ATX had become. I agree with ATX Master. Glad I am using Drake. All forms are available so far, efile works smoothly, updates are no problem. No special configurations needed in my computer system.. Printing is quick and easy. I edited the client letter and it works like a dream. I keep finding new handy features in Drake the more I work with it. I was very comfortable with ATX, I knew how to get things done and I dreaded the thought of having to learn a new program. I stressed about it last summer and fall, but once I made my final decision and moved forward everything fell into place. Hope you all have a great season whichever software you have chosen. Taxtrio Pam

Drake's support alone makes the software worth the price. Phone calls answered within 3 rings and tech that actually has answers. And for the first time in 15 years I am knocking out returns as fast as I did before I started using ATX. Roughly in 1/4 to 1/3 of the time of ATX before 2012! Sometimes fate works in funny ways. I might never had switched, had ATX not messed up its software and seen the Grass is Greener on the other side.

I had the very same problem on 1/23/14. message was NTLDR is missing. Take it to the IT doctor ASAP. My problems were: • found boot files were damaged and fixed them. • fixed boot directory, cleaned up Temp, registry, and startup files.

My message was NTLDR is missing. And, no, it would not boot into safe mode because there was a corrupt boot file. Somehow, my guy got into the setup and changed the order of drive booting from A to D so that he could boot into the restore disk. From then on it was just a matter of installing the full system backup that I had. Jack did tell me to get rid of it because it would no longer be supported after April 14. However, at the time, we did not know that Microsoft was going to announce that they are going to continue to support Security updates through July of 2015. I wasn't planning on using the computer on the internet, but as I explained before and as Rita states, there is a lot of old stuff on there that can still be used and which is not compatible with Win 7 or beyond. It has not been my intent to prepare tax returns on that machine since 2011. I plan on keeping that old XP machine alive and well as long as I can because many of those old programs will not work with Win 7 64 bit. XP is 32 bit. An odd thing is that my Grandson, who has my old XP laptop, which was in perfect condition, cannot boot either. Am wondering if MS might have sent out a bad file in the last update. I beg to differ with Pacun, but it CAN BE resurrected; just a question of why and how. If I find a solution, Rita, I will send you a PM.

I definitely agree. If this is a continuing cleaner, tell your client to hand them a W-9 and tell them they can pick up their check when they return the filled out form. If your client leaves a check in the office or mails it, leave/mail the W-9 instead with a note. Tell your client he will have to withhold, which might get your client to take this more seriously if he has no employees/payroll and would have to deal with the withholding reports himself or pay you to prepare them.

Exactly. When my guy who earns $500,000 (or 1,200,000) spends $100,000 on each family member per the support worksheet and invests the rest, and grandma's trust fund has income of only $50,000 to pay the student's tuition, room & board, and spending money, student is not paying over half his only support -- and his Earned Income is very definitely not more than half his support. So, (none of those high earners have come in yet this season) parents are eligible to claim their child and Kiddie Tax applies. But, you have to run the support worksheets for each case.

Personal tax return just had this same issue. We gave a donation over $250 to a local church to help with their Vacation Bilble School. We have no children who attended the VBS, just knew that they were short on funds. We asked the pastor if VBS was budgeted and if we could designate our giving to that cause in the church. Yes, it was a line item in the budget and he was thrilled to get the help for the porgram. Fast forward to Jan 31st. Giving statement comes in from the church and shows the amount as non-deductible. We called up the administrator and he was adament that any designated gift was not deductible. My wife threw a stink. It did help when she indicated that she had been doing taxes for 14 years and that her husband (me) had set up and processed donation reciepts for churches in the past and that if they wanted to meet with me and review the rules, I would be happy to do so. They reviewed the issue and resent the reciept showing it as deductible. Just a lack of knowledge for a complicated tax code. Tom Hollister, CA

Rita, What's the message on your XP machine? Is it just rebooting? See if it boots up on safe mode, if not, you won't be able to resurrect it. To boot to safe mode, you have to press F8 right before or when you see the Windows logo.

I bought a new computer Feb 2013. Seems like I told you that. I see how it is. I knew you didn't really care about me. Or Mary.

Oh, Tom.... you just HAD to tell us, didn't you? Yum. And I'm SO far away!

I have even run into a couple of smaller churches where the volunteer secretary did not know to send ANY letters, EVER. How do I know so much about the secretary? Because *she* was the one who came to me for tax help (with her own list of donations to the church for the year)! She immediately went back through her records and sent the letters to everyone.

A qualified plan is an employer-sponsored retirement plan that qualifies for special tax treatment under Section 401(a) of the Internal Revenue Code. (c ) Qualified retirement plan For purposes of this section, the term “qualified retirement plan” means— (1) a plan described in section 401 (a) which includes a trust exempt from tax under section 501 (a), (2) an annuity plan described in section 403 (a), (3) an annuity contract described in section 403 (b ), (4) an individual retirement account described in section 408 (a), or (5) an individual retirement annuity described in section 408 (b ). There are many different types of qualified plans, but they all fall into two categories. A defined benefit plan (e.g., a traditional pension plan) is generally funded solely by employer contributions and provides you with a specified level of retirement benefits. A defined contribution plan (e.g., a profit-sharing or 401(k) plan) is funded by employer and/or employee contributions. The benefits you receive from the plan depend on investment performance.

I could only watch one at a time. That first one hit me really hard. Some day I might be able to talk about why. I will just say that my twin brother went from my birth mother's room to the hospital in a bag similar to that, the night I was born. I was in a paper bag from the grocery store. Thank God for my wonderful adoptive parents.

OK, you quoted the list of exceptions, so what is your question? Exception 5, "not in excess of the amount allowable as a medical expense deduction for the year, whether or not the distributee itemizes" means just what it says. ALL of it is subject to tax, of course. The only part the exception protects is the penalty for early withdrawal. And that is not as inclusive as clients often assume The way I calculate it is by doing a Sch A even if the client is not itemizing, to determine how much of his medical costs would be DEDUCTIBLE on the A if he did itemize. That amount then goes on the 5329 Line 2 with Code 05. Keep the Sch A in your notes, even if not used in the return, to back up your amount you excluded on the 5329.

Mark the Michigan as a non-resident return. Then allocate all income to "other state" column on the NR worksheet. All income will be subtracted out and all Michigan tax w/h will be refunded. Add a note to return: Stating Reciprocal State, Wisconsin Resident, Michigan Tax w/h in error. Please refund. Make sure the note will be efiled with the Michigan return. It is usually a tab on the bottom of the Michigan efile input screen. Or you could type up the note and attach it as a PDF attached to the efile. Remember preparer notes don't get efiled with the return, so don't put it there.

JB, Although stated above, just wanted to clarify and note the importance of the taxpayer obtaining the statement from the charitable organization (churches included) PRIOR TO FILING HIS/HER TAX RETURN or ON OR BEFORE THE TAX RETURN DUE DATE (4-15-14 for 2013 returns), WHICHEVER DATE IS EARLIER. In one court case, the taxpayer was able to get the necessary statement he needed specifically for his audit....HOWEVER, the audit took place, of course, after the due date of filing his original return. As the church dated the statement (for his audit) on the date they prepared it, the statement wasn't allowed for the purposes of his audit, thus the taxpayer had to pay the income taxes on the donation(s) to the church as a result of his audit. I feel the court case took everyone by surprise....a hard lesson for the taxpayer, but a very beneficial lesson for tax professionals as prior to the court case, I wouldn't have been concerned that the taxpayer obtained the statement a couple of years later for his audit...especially from a church. Just another example of why the code needs to be overhauled! Common sense is nowhere to be found in the code any longer. Take care, Cathy

Just For Fun – How Observant Are You? Do you see the arrow between the “E” and “x” (in white)? The 2nd and 3rd “T’s” are two people sharing (or fighting over) a tortilla and a bowl of salsa. The world’s most famous bike race. The “R” in “Tour” is a cyclist. The yellow circle is the front wheel of a bicycle, the “O” is the back wheel. The arrow means Amazon has everything from A to Z. The gap between the “K” and the “I” is a sideways chocolate kiss. There is a dancing bear above the “ble”. Toblerone chocolate bars originated in Berne , Switzerland , whose symbol is the bear. Ever notice the ” 31″ embedded in the ” BR”? Thirty one-derful flavors! Northwest Airlines. The circle is a compass. The arrow in the upper left corner is pointing..?

Social Security Disability Insurance is counted as support provided by the recipient, like any other pension. It doesn't matter that it is claimed on the parent's work history. It might mean the child is not a tax dependent.

If the son meets the requirement to file a return, has taxable income, had any withholding he wants back, has any carryforwards to track, etc.

Most taxpayers hear that they can get their money out of a plan under the "hardship rules" and think that applies to the tax law as well. I don't know how we got to the place where people don't know the difference between advice given by a 401K plan administrator about a plan and tax advice. It costs them so much money for the things they do under the advice of the wrong expert. Tom Hollister, CA

NONE IRS official word: "Most taxpayers will receive their refunds in 21 day or less. Some may take longer." The days of quick refunds are over. Thank you Identity thieves and people that file fraudulent tax returns. Nothing anyone can do to expedite the process.

Note: No goods or services, other than intangible religious benefits, were given to the donor in exchange for the contributions listed above.

OMG YES! I'd contact the pastor, too, and explain the importance of re-sending EVERYONE a new letter containing the required wording. It is not optional.

Yeah, that will last about 6 months, usually!

For the record, the amounts listed with Code DD are only those run through a 125 or café plan. Period. It includes BOTH employer and employee contributions, but ONLY if through a café or 125 plan. If the employer give the employee money to help the employee pay his premiums, box 1 of the W-2 must be ramped up to show the amount. Therefore, the number shown in box 12 with code DD is ALL PRETAX and does NOT go on the tax return ANYWHERE. Next tax year, that will not be the case.

Thanks, Judy, glad you agree with me. And I too am tired of hearing about the 2012 program. We know it had all those problems, but it was what it was, and talking about it over and over serves no purpose. Lets get on to this year.

A couple of years ago I filed a form (don't remember which one) for a client that took out money from his 401K to buy his first home, IRS disallowed it because the 401K was not an IRA. This happened in 2005 or 2006.

Form 5329