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I sorta have the lull thing in March. Fewer clients coming in to waste my time with chit-chat, but harder returns, and I feel so relieved. I have plenty to do, and more time to do it. Some days now, I feel like all I do is talk from 8 - 4, and start actual work at 4. People just don't know. I think they believe the Keebler elves are back there somewhere doing returns while they chew on my ear.

It always feels like right now is the worst time of the season for me. All the clients who make it harder than it is are coming now. The people who THINK they itemize. Even though I have given up on explaining, I still have to listen to THEIR explanations, and go over the stupid $40 donation to Goodwill and wait while they decide on the value of $100. Or the people who actually CAN itemize, and forget to give me stuff.

How far could you have gotten on a tax return in the time it took you to post that reply? :)

Hey, I finally realized I don't have to stare at the toaster or microwave while they work. Bet that dishwasher runs without you standing there, Jack. Sorry, I had to. Heehee. The dishwasher seems a little violent to me. And humid. I just run the shop vac over keyboards. Not the whole shop vac, just the little attachment with soft bristles. Don't call PETA, but you can vacuum some cats, too. Others will kill you if you do that, so your mileage may vary. I do snag ten's that end up in the washing machine, too. Actually any currency or coin. It feels like my tip for doing laundry. Oh, and not only would I pick up a $100, I'd shove any of you out of my way and run to get it.

I had lunch today with a friend and client at a local restaurant. At the check out were the coupons from Liberty Tax advertising the $50.00 instant check if you come in and get your taxes done. Just to make converstion, I told the girl at the register that this was a gimmick and folks probably didn't get the $50.00. her response "Oh yes they do, I got mine when I had my taxes done a couple days ago." Me- Okay but what was the prep fee? Don't they kinda burn you there? She - Oh yeah that was a little rough at $400.00. After she realized what had happened she now knows that the $50.00 she got was hers to begin with. Geez I can't believe people fall for these things.

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I have a HP Deskjet 895cse printer, that I purchased new in the mid 90's for $59.00. I really liked it because of it's simplicity, and it printed enough tax returns and accounting material that would fill my office completely. Well....It got gummed up with ink and old age and just stopped printing, and I still had three new ink cartridges in store,,,,Dang! So I went and purchased a Brother multifunction laser printer/fax/scanner/copier $249.00. Last summer while in my hot Sunny, over heated garage, I came across that old Hp printer. I contemplated chucking it, But....."Idea"....I blasted it inside and out with the garden hose, stuck it back in that hot garage to dry. Today it's connected to my home computer, and is working as well as it did when I bought it. And YAY!....I gitta use up stored inky.........

Only the IRS can answer. Him calling will be an adventure of futility. They cannot, or will not say the reason. Until it has been 21 days after his return was filed, he has no reason to think anything is wrong. Even if it has been reviewed, nothing can be done to expedite. Too many people in too big a hurry. This has led to the GIANT problem of fraud as the IRS tried to be "customer friendly" and do things quickly.

I have started telling people that each time they call, I move their return down by 5 in the queue. That usually stops the calling.

This video actually made me laugh out loud. Kitten vs gecko -

I know it is not my place to judge or preach to clients, but sometimes it makes me soooo angry. Single mom client quit her cleaning job in June because they made her work nights...which, in her words, "did not allow for any fun time". She had income of approx. $10,000 for the year. Started her own "business" making jewelry....although admittedly, she did not advertise or actually try to sell any of the jewelry that she made. Nonetheless, she proceeded to tell me her utilities and other household expenses. She only paid in $460 in Fed tax for the year....and with her education credit for her kid's college and EIC, her hand-out...I mean refund is approx. $4600.....not bad, I thought. AND SHE WAS UPSET! She feels that that is just not enough....."How am I supposed to live on that?" she screams. I attempted to politely inform her that tax refunds are not a social safety net such as food stamps and welfare..and that a refund is not targeted to her social situation. However, then she started on a rant about why I would not let her deduct all of her "business expenses"...such as repairs to her car so she could go to the wal-mart to buy jewelry-making supplies. She also tells me she got offered a job at Burger King, but turned it down because it was too degrading...yes she said that. I did not just make up my ATX screen name...I earned the "Janitor" designation over several years proudly working one of those "degrading" jobs at night to make ends meet. I did not even try to explain that even if her expenses were deductible, they could not further lower her taxable income which was already zero. I can tolerate tax-ignorance....after all....that is why people pay us...just like I am car-ignorant and pay to have my oil changed. but I am so sick of these people who think they know taxes and feel that society "owes them" more despite the fact that they are already living off of my tax dollars because they just do not want to work hard or do something yucky like clean out a deep fryer....or, God forbid, work inconvenient hours. I don't mind the occasional struggling parent who works hard and get a nice EIC...yes...some do deserve it....but that is the exception...the above seems to be the rule. OK..rant over...I'll climb down off of my soap box now.

JB, if she had no sales, how can you justify even reporting that as a business? Sounds like a hobby to me. She's obviously just trying to milk the system, which unfortunately is easy to do with the current Code. I'm glad it makes you mad. That is how it should make every honest taxpayer feel.

Mine is a HP1200.....just keeps on printing. I just printed off three pages of business cards....last toner change 03-18-12

Thank you, Mr Pencil. I've been reading this topic and trying to picture me asking some of my existing clients for their driver licenses, birth certificates, and SS cards. Some of my clients I've known for 50 years, I went through school with their children, and have been preparing their returns for 30 years. Now I'm supposed to verify that they are who they say they are?

I like your breakdown. Mine is similar, with one MAJOR change. Period 3 - Everybody goes on extension as the info comes in the door - no exceptions. No stress, and Apr 15 is just another routine day.

Who knew this would be such a hot topic? Guess it was a nice, sort of practical, diversion. At least I have lots of advice now to ponder!

Isn't it kind of hard to throw your laptop in the dishwasher just to clean the keyboard My #3 button on the Keypad keeps sticking and I have to make sure every time I enter info that contains a "3" that it actually gets entered! I have used the Keyboard cleaner in a can, but not much luck. Must be the German Shepherd fur is tougher stuff.

Me too. More clients dropping off earlier. And then sending in more documents! People that were on extension last year not wanting extensions this year. And, I've had a sinus infection that wiped me out for over a week of moving slowly. And more clients calling for me to explain their documents to them, because HR or the broker or whoever doesn't return their calls. I have them queued up via date dropped off (and move them when they send me more info) but also have notes about the fiscal year nonprofit due 15 February and the S-corp who needs his K-1s by 26 February and all those leaving in March on vacation and not returning until after 15 April. And the prior year returns (why more every year?) who I have in my queue but may get put on the bottom of the stack as they're already late anyway. I'm overwhelmed. With businesses due 15 March and most of my clients finally getting their broker statements later this month and then corrected statements in March and clients leaving for spring break trips in March and April, I have no lull.

I don't seem to have the March Lull, which is why I was so dismayed that I already have a large queue and am already behind.

Not a viable option when it's the firm's money at stake. KC, you're thinking too much like an entrepreneur...

Hahahaha, you guys, this is really entertaining. Like a smackdown for nerds.

The turn this thread has taken reminds me of a friend who would always say "I'll never be too old or too fat to bend over and pick up money."

So if you left a dirty $10 bill in your trousers and it went in the wash, would it be best to dry it and reuse it, or just throw it away? After all, you probably have plenty of other $10 bills lying around somewhere.

oh, I misunderstood. only way I know is to do three returns, one MFJ for the feds, then duplicate that twice, renaming these two for the two clients, delete one client's info and change status to Single , and then on those two you file just the state only.

Very Stressful!!!! I could handle it if they wouldn't waste my time calling to see if their taxes are done yet. That really freaks me out! They are definitely coming in faster than they are going out. The past two weeks have seemed like two months.

OP- Before you know it, we'll have the "March Lull". You'll have plenty of time to catch up. I used to let this get to me also...the last few years I've learned to put my needs first. But, yeah...I find this part of the season very stressful.

Basically, at the start of the season, it actually makes sense to me to buy a new keyboard, which as you say, are not expensive, even if it sits in it's box for the net year! What you want is to be able to get back up and running in ten minutes, if anything happens to your keyboard. I kept an extra mouse for the same reason. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16823126096

Done...and this forum is worth way more than my donation, that's for sure.

Wanda Love was a tax preparer for HRB. She got her cousin to recruit 20 family & friends to claim self-employment in 2006 and 2007. All the returns were the same--they sold belts and purses with no inventory, they had no expenses at all but the exact income needed for maximum EIC. Wanda got a piece of the refund, which HRB insisted was not their policy. In 2008 the IRS announced the due diligence requirements, so she upped the income and deducted exactly the optimum expenses. [u.S. v. Love, Sentenced to 15 months prison on each of 60 counts (to serve concurrently) followed by probation,]

IRS Releases the Dirty Dozen Tax Scams for 2013 http://www.irs.gov/uac/Newsroom/IRS-Releases-the-Dirty-Dozen-Tax-Scams-for-2013 Cost of Improper Earned-Income Tax Credits: $10 Billion Improper claims for the Earned Income Tax Credit continue to cost the government more than $10 billion a year, and there’s not much more the IRS can do about the problem with existing methods, a new report said. The EITC is among the federal government’s biggest anti-poverty programs of any kind. It often wipes out federal income-tax liability for low-income working families, and frequently provides a cash payment of several thousand dollars over and above that. Unfortunately, it’s also a case study in the problems that can occur when Washington delivers benefit programs through the individual tax system. The EITC’s complex rules help lead to high error rates by taxpayers and even paid preparers. It’s also vulnerable to fraudulent claims, despite some elaborate safeguards that have been built in over the years. The payments paid out improperly for 2012 were at least 21-25% of all payments, according to the latest report from the IRS inspector general. The report estimated that improper payments totaled between $11.6 billion and $13.6 billion for 2012, out of total EITC claims of $55.4 billion. That’s better than a decade ago, when the improper payment rate was between 25% and 30%. But the IRS “acknowledges that further reductions in the EITC improper payment rate will be difficult to achieve,” says the new report. The inspector general’s report urges the IRS to consider alternative to its traditional compliance efforts. Improper payment rates for non-tax benefit programs such as housing and some nutrition programs are often much lower than the EITC’s rate. Republicans suggested the same problems could crop up with the new individual tax subsidies created by the Obama administration’s health-care overhaul. “Refundable tax credits are a nightmare to administer and lead to far too much of the American people’s money going out to those who aren’t eligible. That the IRS can’t figure out how to rein in the improper Earned Income Tax Credit payments doesn’t bode well for the $1.1 trillion in ObamaCare subsidies,” said Sen Orrin Hatch (R., Utah) in a prepared statement. Acting IRS commissioner Daniel Werfel said at a congressional hearing last summer that the EITC and health care credit are designed differently. That will be “helpful in reducing the instances of fraud” in the health-care program, he said. One big difference is that taxpayers don’t get the money from the credit – insurers do – Mr. Werfel said. The IRS said in statement Monday: “Every year, the IRS conducts 500,000 EITC audits as part of a broader enforcement strategy, and EITC claims are twice as likely to be audited as other tax returns. The IRS protects nearly $4 billion in improper claims each year and is committed to continuing to work to reduce improper claims. As the data in the TIGTA report shows, there has been a significant decline in the improper payments since 2010.”

Darn if after all the convolutions, it was better to take the misc itemized deduction. That's almost never the case, except perhaps that they were already over the 2% haircut. And with the deduction, CA tax is reduced too.

Self Employed may not use the lodging portion of the per diem rate. All lodging on a Sch. C must be substantiated. Tom Hollister, CA

There are no settings for hibernate, or sleep,etc in my system, but I get the error just the same. Clicking retry doesn't work and occasionally locks up temporarily. Here's the link to the ATX KB method which works for me every time. http://cchsfs-atx.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/14639/kw/

I am overwhelmed as seeing snow storm in NY coming tonight. I have no place to put additional 6-12 inches of snow!!!!!!

Mine are coming in early, probably to beat the deadline in my letter which is next month. Unfortunately, I've never seen so many missing 1099Rs in all my years of practice. Apparently the 2/17/14 deadline applies to these also. I try to get them to drop them off in my box, fax or email. I do not want to see people three or four times because I can't get a darn thing done.

Change the settings on all the computers in your system so that the computer never goes to sleep and the harddrive never stops. Control panel, power settings, advanced settings.

Ignore the server warning and click retry. It is related to windows system resources and how fast your hard drives turn off or go to sleep. Also, the server message is for the actual system you are working on, not the network server. Just click retry and go on. If you have a router with a hardware firewall, turn off ALL software firewalls and internet security functions except your anti-virus. All those programs interfere with the program talking to the server.

FTM, I sent you a PM about Drake. Taxxcpa's suggestion would require that you purchase the unlimited package for full price if you wanted to include the payroll returns. In my PM I suggested that you consider Drake on a PPR basis for $285 that would give you all the forms they offer and ALL STATES. The $285 includes 15 returns on the PPR basis, so you could use that as a backup and for those returns that you want the 2106EZ, and states that TaxAct doesn't allow you to have, and any other forms that may not be available to you. It's $19/return after the first 15. ETA - Drake's demo is FREE. It is a fully functional complete program from last year. That would allow you to see if your system has any trouble running it. Support is phenomenal.

The legality is very simple. A regulatory agency (ie the IRS and Treasury Department) get their authority from Congress. Only those regulatory actions specifically granted by Congress can be carried out by the agency. The IRS tried to sidestep this constitutional requirement. The court said that the law of 1894 that the IRS was relying upon for their regulatory authority was not valid. They need to go back to congress and get specific regulatory authority to regulate tax return preparation. For those of us who are EA's, CPA's and Attorneys, we are regulated under the authority to "practice before the IRS". This goes back to the Revenue acts passed during the post civil war era, and are specifically granted authority to the Treasury Department. The IRS has tried to make the argument that tax preparation is "practice" and has been shut down by the courts. This latest attempt to regulate "preparers" was shot down as well, as the court found that the law did not contemplate tax return preparation as a area for the Treasury Department to regulate. So IRS can appeal or drop the fight in the courts. Their best bet, in my humble opinion, is to go to Congress and ask for the specific authority to regulate preparers. I am for licensing of preparers. I am also for regulation of IRS employees to the same standard that the preparers and practitioners are held. I would like to see the OPR become an independent agency of the Treasury that writes the rules for preparation, practice, and discipline for preparers, pracitioners, and agents of the Treasury department with full authority to disbar or discipline any preparer or Revenue agent that does not follow the rules. Tom Hollister, CA

I agree that Tax Preparation should include licensing and testing of minimum requirements. I have seen some of the returns prepared by people that do not have a clue! What I did not like about the IRS heavy hand regarding the CPE was that you had to use one of their "Sanctioned" providers. I work full time during the day at a large global company in the Tax Department and prepare Large Corporation Federal and State Tax Returns. I have worked here for over 13 years, I have access to and use many other sources for my Tax education during the year that are far better than the "Sanctioned" ones. Deloitte, KPMG, EY, Thomson Reuters, etc. I also have my own Tax Prep Business that I have done since 1984 out of my home in the evenings and weekends. I always have attended annual seminars and webinars to keep up on current tax law, but last year having to pay twice for the same CPE just really annoyed me. And the education was so simplified it was an insult.

Call her to tell her you'll deduct her ratio of actual expenses for her car's business use. That should reduce her income and lower her EIC and drive her away for good. Did one yesterday with nearly $10,000 in refunds from IRS and CT. Her mother cares for the three kids frequently for free. Her boyfriend contributes financially, but apparently not more than 50% of housing costs (lives elsewhere). Last year she bought a car with her refund; this year it's vacations. If they were married, that $10,000 would disappear. They will probably never marry. If I divorced my husband...

Code DD is for the amounts that the EMPLOYER paid for the employee's health insurance. Rich