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Just a reminder that this is an independent forum, not subject to the whims and policies of any software vendor. This independence comes as a result of Eric's generosity with his time and thanks to the excellent job our moderators do to keep things civil. The main responsibility the rest of us have to do our part in maintaining the civility and to occasionally hit that "Donation" button at the top to provide ongoing funding. So I'd like to suggest that right now, at the beginning of tax preparation season, is a good time to step up and do our part. I just sent my most recent donation, and I encourage others to do the same (if you haven't had the opportunity to have done so recently). This is the most valuable Forum in the entire accounting community as far as I'm concerned, and I hope others have the same attitude.

Then I think you should just GO AWAY. It is clear, reviewing your posts, that why ever you decided to join, it was not to participate in ta discussions and helping solve problems. What we discuss has nothing to do with whether you bought ATX, that only applies on the official ATX board, where CCH makes the rules. This board was created when CCH banned us all, by shutting down their Community board. You might not know that, but many of us remember April 10, 2007 as the day we lost all respect for CCH. But just the same, this is not a place for bashing them, it's a place were fellow professionals can get together to help each other, share with each other, build friendships and professional relationships,, etc. Clearly you are not a fit here.

But even if you are able to resuscitate the old drive, start planning on it dying for good. Check for new programs that can replace the old ones, while you still have access to them. Because it will die one day, and you've already been warned that day is getting close. Besides, while we all like those old programs we know so well we don't have to think about them, many times when we are forced into a new one we find it's actually a lot better, or does more, and usually does it faster. It's easier to switch, too, if we still have access to the old data. Like creating a cvs file of an old database, that may make populating the new program relatively simple.

I want licensing requirements and someone watching over preparers. I want to push out the "two weeks a year" tax preparers. The group that started this whole lawsuit thing must be in favor of fraud and incompetence. What I TOTALLY DISDAIN is the paying for having a PTIN. The costs are just a cash cow for the IRS. Maybe this judgment will eliminate the charges for renewing? I am in favor of testing to obtain a PTIN. I am in favor of testing to obtain an EFIN.

And this is the reason I think the IRS should slow down ALL refunds. The bad guys KNOW the system can't keep up, so they file. The IRS has contracted with some data aggregators to start spot checking information on returns, so that they can confirm that maybe the return is bogus. They need to ramp this process up. And then hopefully, stop some of this fraud. An extra week or so from filing to refund will not hurt anyone. Prior to Efiling, you could wait 6-8 weeks for your check. Now it is down to a week to 10 days? But the fraud is over 4-5 Billon a year? Yeah, we can slow things down... Rich

I think the auditor put one over on you. There is no legal basis for denying the deduction in the absence of a 1099. So unless there were other potential problems you wanted to avoid by conceding this issue, you may have given up too soon. I also don't agree with denying the deduction to a client when they haven't issued a 1099, provided they have proper documentation for the expense. ( "Proper documentation" would be canceled checks, valid receipts, etc. but would not necessarily include 1099 forms, contrary to the assertions of many tax pros who should know better) It is the job of the IRS to audit, not the person the client trusts to prepare their return accurately. This isn't even a grey area - the existence of the two 1099 questions on the tax form make that perfectly clear.

Your client will pay tax on it on the 2013 return, but you can calculate the portion that would have been taxable in that earlier year, and if that is less and results in less tax, then you elect to do that. ATX had a nice worksheet that was accessed from the social security input screen that allowed the preparer to enter the relevant data from the earlier years' tax returns. Open the worksheet for line 20, and if it is similar to earlier years, you'll see down toward the bottom a place to jump to the SS Lump Sum Worksheet. IRS pub 915 has a good explanation with an example. Look at the section "Lump Sum Election" : http://www.irs.gov/publications/p915/ar02.html#en_US_2013_publink100097893

In looking through a cabinet, I noticed a can of compressed air. I decided to blow out my keyboard having noticed a bit of cat hair floating about (see avatar for responsible parties). Wow! I think I found another cat! So now I've blown and picked and prodded between the keys but still see wisps here and there. Any really effective ways to get out the rest without completely dismantling the thing? I may do that but not until after the season for fear that it will never be the same.

In almost everything else I do, but for some reason I really wanted this to be done and now all I have is a worthless certificate hanging on my wall. Oh well!

Maybe just give that keyboard to the cat! And treat yourself to a new one!

From what you said about the cost of the internet, this was not an accountable plan where she turned in the cost of the internet and the hospital reimbursed her. Instead, they compensated her at a rate they set for the use of the internet and equipment in her home. Therefore, including it in wages is the correct way to treat this amount. That said, does she have her paystub showing what she was actually paid so that you can compare that with the W2? This would be helpful in determining whether or not the money has been reported somewhere.

Actually, I find this rather entertaining.

I agree, and the IRS has made it dead simple to fix this common problem. No need for weird stuff like getting a corrected 1099 or doing Schedule C or a Line 21 offset or disregarding it until the CP2000 comes. Just file Form 8919 and move on.

I'd do a C for $700. Then, as an expense write off $700..as "employer misclassification....income included on W-2".

>>No wonder everyone on the Drake forum is so happy and helpful!<< I have a very small practice and moving towards retirement. Every year I attend a seminar where Drake has a booth and they have worked to convert me. I should have listened sooner. Tax software is a tool for me to use to aid in my profession. When a tool is broken, you throw it away and buy a new one. I am over joyed "it broke."

Each year your client will get a new DIFFERENT IP PIN. Enter his latest PIN.

One problem with giving those refunds so quickly is that, in many cases, the IRS has not received the W-2 and other withholding information from which the refund is based. This permits identity thieves to "borrow" your SSN and file a return showing lots of tax withheld by employers whose EINs the thief has also "borrowed" for his scheme. This is a growing problem. Something needs to be done,.

I use PDF Factory as my default printer, so I never print out 25-pages I don't want by mistake. After I print to the PDF, I then, if I want a paper copy, tell it to print to my HP printer.

I think that federal holidays are the same day that the post offices are closed, so you should be good until Tuesday. I hope you feel better soon. It is hard enough to be miserable when you can just lay around the house in your jammies - when you have to go in to work because you just can't let your clients down this time of year, it is MISERABLE!

Me too! I'm loving the ease and speed of everything in Drake. I'm looking forward to a stress-free season. Drake has allowed me to easily upgrade and accomplish several new time and expense savings for this year. I am using the DDM to launch my new scanner to scan & save all client's documents (much faster than standing at the copier), saving all prepared returns, signature forms and workpapers there also, and the DDM sets up the file structure automatically! I am going totally paperless this year for the 1040s. It's great that the program automatically password protects the returns in a standardized fashion. I've already received data and sent returns totally electronically without having to meet with the clients too. Two other new additions for me this year are accepting payments through Paypal and my locking drop box for clients not needing or wanting a meeting to leave their documents and records for me in a secure place. No wonder everyone on the Drake forum is so happy and helpful!

Yeah, it's ten years in my state. And that just means they can't sue to recover, but the debt is still owed. What you need to do is read the bankruptcy order. Just because he filed BK doesn't mean this particular debt was discharged. On the other hand, debt collectors are not particularly credible, so it's worth checking out.

I too am committed to Drake, for exactly the same reasons as Joel & Pam. Tax software needs to be fast, reliable, and smooth. Wasting a lot of time & money worrying with special hardware, compex configurations, and all the techie stuff may apppeal to some people. But for me personally, I just want the software to do its job efficiently so I can concentrate on the real task of client tax service & advice. One should not need a NASA-grade computer sysem to perform the basic math functions needed for a tax program. And it should never be necesary to wait for the program to perform the simple tasks involved in tax preparation.

I agree with what KC said to pikester and also what you've said about looking at the exceptions individually.

My mistake. Unlike the exception for a home purchase, the medical exception does not include "individual retirement account" so should work just fine for a 401k. I agree with KC on that one. I wouldn't want to speak for other folks, but I believe the talk earlier in the thread regarding IRA vs 401k was in response to the OP and the home buyer exception. You kind of have to look at the exceptions individually. Some apply to qualified plans in general, some to IRA specifically, and at least one to qualified distributions not including IRA's.

I do understand that part of your post was expressing your concern about renewing with ATX for this season and why you ultimately chose other software. Whether or not you believe you weren't bashing 2012, it was implied by your saying you wanted it to be like it was in 2011, that the company had plenty of time to fix it for this year so as to not repeat the problems that 2012 had, that the beta testing was a coverup, something thrown in there about the big raven.... As far as offensive remarks going unpunished, you know firsthand that that is untrue. You've been visiting this forum over this past year, and I know this because I saw your unkind posts on the official forum about some of the members here, our posts, the moderation, and the creation of the politics subforum. You were aware that we put a warning point system in place, were warning people publicly within the topics, and that the forum is actively monitored and moderated as needed. Like everyone else on here, you also have the ability to report those posts or topic you find offensive and provide us with an explanation of why that is. Most of the time we have acted on those reports, and on rare occasion have made the choice that no action be taken, but we do give each report serious consideration. There is no game being played here. We want this to be a friendly place where tax preparers come to get help, help others, and stay productive. That is the main focus and purpose of this community, and that means that some posts will report problems with the current ATX program as current users try to find solutions and share workarounds. If you choose to think of those people as "the preferred ones" then so be it. They are the ones that should be discussing the program. There is nothing to be gained by rehashing the disaster of last season, and the only times last year's program should come up are if someone's current work, program, or data file is affected by it, or if someone is preparing a late or amended return with it. As far as you ponying up funds to purchase ATX and then being allowed to say whatever you want about ATX or CCH on here, that isn't the case. The official forum may allow those types of posts, but this is a privately owned forum. The owner of this forum gives each of us access and can take that away from any one of us at any time. As KC already said, you are welcome to stay, but please understand our main focus here is to help each other, and that the general concensus is to put the problems with last year's program behind us and concentrate on our current work with the current year's program.

Florida Tax Man, I find all of this quiet interesting. I can understand why you are not allowed on the forums on ATX. Its cause where ever you end up. You cause nothing but strife and disharmony in a community. I believe that you do this for some purpose. I have no reason, want or need to figure out this purpose. It does not interest me. I have better things to do with my time. If you want to rant and rave. Go to Craigslist. They have a part of their community that is called Rants and Raves. its for people like yourself that continually have to complain or cause issues with others. You have called this place unfriendly in your posts on here. This is a good community of great people that help others solve problems. Be it tax, computer, or software problems. We gather together and create solutions or offer advice on these issues. I might not have a lot of posts, but I step in when I can. So Here are a few questions that I will ask you. What problem have you solved since your return on here? What issue did you settle? What solution did you provide? The answer is simple. You have solved zero problems since you came here. Instead you created issues that were not there beforehand. You provide no solutions and almost had one of the members of the community stop doing what he does best. Which is help people in solving the problems before them. So in closing, Either help out with the problems that people ask for assistance, but stop disrupting the ones who do help out and do care for the other people in this community of individuals.

There is a danger of taking a loan because if employment ends, it turns into a distribution that could be subject to a penalty.

FTM: Understand something: Until you OWN the site, they are not and never will be "YOUR" Threads. Sorry. Your "First Amendment" rights end at the end of your voice, or your ability to write your own paper. And this paper, as well as the ATX Official site is owned by somebody else. I am involved with other online forums and in an official capacity. KC and Judy are being nice to you. I would have you kicked out, either on a temp basis or permanently for posting actions that question moderation. Rich