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So at church this morning, the Pastor says in his sermon that we are going to get audited by God some day. On the way home, my 18 year old son says he isn't worried about that audit because he will have a mileage log and his receipts when he gets there. He must be listening more than my wife and I think when we talk about clients at home. Tom Hollister, CA

from a facebook friend

This client will receive, as you suggest, only a few dollars actual tax benefit. However, she is one of those clients that thinks she knows tax law and combs through her return looking for every little deduction that she "suggested" on her 8 page list. She plays the system....starts a new "business" every year and spends countless hours coming up with utilities and other "business" deductions. So every year I need to explain to her why her "suggestions" are not deductible or if deductible have little or no benefit....and why her newest venture is likely a hobby and not a business. However, this annual explanation is easier than listening to her accuse me of missing something....So if her 750 miles is decuctible, I want her to be able to see that it is included in the return. I hate this client, but I can't fire her....because she's my sister.

Are you located in Florida? Florida is the epicenter of ID theft for the IRS. But all you can do is what KC said.

They got it fixed.

Remember that non-resident means that he was out of the U.S. and he/she doesn't have a US citizen spouse who was a resident. If the US citizen spouse was a resident in the U.S., they can choose to file a residents.

Dear Client You know I work out of my home. You also know I do not like clients to come to my home unless absolutely necessary. You know that my husband has a business across the street that is open M-F from 9-6....and that's where people drop off and pick up from. I do make exceptions. Do you remember 3 years ago I let you pick up your return from my home? You came in, took your boots off...and talked to me for about half an hour. Then you realized I had work to do, so you left. Thinking you wanted to be "my friend" I invited you for lunch after the season. We even picked out the restaurant. Then, when I called you to confirm that morning you said "Oh, did we have plans? I have something else to do." You weren't even apologetic. So, why this morning (Sunday..when I do things with DH)....did you and your husband get annoyed when I told you I was unavailable for a drop off...as i have plans all day? Should I sit home all day to accommodate you? You don't work. Please drop your papers off with my husband or learn to fax or e-mail.

According to the Instructions for Form 1040, "For federal tax purposes, individuals of the same sex are considered married if they were lawfully married in a state (or foreign country) whose laws authorize the marriage of two individuals of the same sex, even if the state (or foreign country) in which they now live does not recognize same-sex marriage." NT from here on... On the other hand, it's starting to look like the chances of even meeting someone same-sex is unlikely. Have you seen all the new Facebook options? Wow! Trans- and cis- and andro-pan, and I don't know what-all. Check this out http://techland.time.com/2014/02/14/a-comprehensive-guide-to-facebooks-new-options-for-gender-identity/?xid=rss-topstories

IRS regulations were never intended to be fair.

I usually ask them to hand me the rest of their stack so I can go through it quickly. If there's some boilerplate stuff in there (brokerage statements, etc), I quickly shove it into the paper shredder. Love to see the expression on their faces as that thing grinds away.

Maybe this illustrates the difference between "snow" and "snow job."

Jack, my message may have been a tad bit different from the op's message. I didn't really copy it down. I just thought I would tell my little story and how I avoided a third message. All turned out well. I closed the program and opened it again with no problem. As I said, I just thought ATX was busy with lots of folks trying to log in simultaneously. I believe I understand that server has more than one definition as you have explained a multitude of time in a variety of ways. I don't believe you had to SHOUT to express yourself. Lower case works fine, too. I'm not sure why you are reviving your favorite phrase about male bovine scat regarding my system (if that was your intention). Mine is, as yours, well above the recommendations. It seems you get your shorts in a bunch whenever this issue arises and feel compelled to, again, let posters know that you are the expert in this area. Most of us know it and appreciate your expertise. I venture to state, however, that showing your irritation at repeating yourself is not always a welcomed response. Perhaps you might save a pre-written response somewhere and simply post it whenever you see this request/comment/complaint appear, yet again. I fear for your stress level and would dearly prefer that you maintain your composure and willingness to continue to assist those of us seeking help with new issues. I wasn't asking for advice or assistance in this case. I merely related my experience on the chance that someone else may find such a simple solution, at least once, and not have to halt work. It worked for me - once - might work for another. Don't know if not tried. Thanks for your many efforts to assist in so many ways. They are appreciated most of the time. Shouting via upper case and bold type is not always so appreciated, in my opinion. If a colleague in your office asked similar questions, even repeatedly, would that also be your response?

Start getting together all the documents you can to support that the kids actually live with him, school records, doctor's records, etc, since the IRS has usually demonstrated an anti-father bias. And advise the client he will just have to wait for the wheels to grind. There is nothing you can directly do. Although he could file a motion with the court that issued the divorce decree, since she has violated that court order, unless she has resources to go after there's not much point.

I always encourage clients to take cell phone calls. They usually have enough sense to know whether it's important or not, and I don't think I'm smart enough to make that decision for them (even with my crystal ball). There is always something for me to double-check while they are on the phone, either some item related to their business or even if it's just to take a quick look at my email & texts. (another benefit of multiple monitors, BTW). So their brief period of inattention doesn't threaten my ego or insult my professionalism. And we are all able keep the business/personal life ball in motion. (My idea of true multi-taksing) But it is also significant that I don't have a schedule full of appointments back-to-back like many of you do, so I can understand why delays during appointments can be problematic if your work flow is organized in that manner.

Here in NC we know how to have a snowstorm. We had 8" of snow over a 24-hr period, accompanied by some sleet and freeing rain before & during. Driving was risky even for those of us who know how to drive in the mess. I hunkered down at the office during the sleet & ice, waiting for the snowfall so I'd have good traction on the way home. Everything ground to a halt for about 36 hours, then by noon yesterday temps were in the 40's and people were back to work. Today's high will be mid-40's and next week it will rise by about 10 deg per day until it hits the 70's on Thursday. Atached images are from the back porch at noon on Thursday and noon on Saturday. One week we're complaining about the snow, the next week the problem is the heat & humidity. I had to go back and add the "Charlotte" photo, in light of the small earthquake near here in the past 24 hours.

Anti-rant: Client that thought yesterday's appointment was today was able to reschedule to today and brought me napoleons & chocolate mousse cupcakes from one of the finest bakeries in town. All is forgiven....

Oh, that would not work in Crossville, TN. The friendliest place on earth. Oh, no, not atall. No siree.

Now if I can just figure out how to get people to hand me their papers and not explain, "This is my W-2 from Fred. This is my W-2 from Bob. This is my wife's Social Security W-2. This is my wife's W-2 where she worked, and I don't reckon they held out tax (otherwise known as a 1099-Misc), and this is my W-2 from Amazon where they are wanting me to pay sales tax. Don't know if we can deduct that or not."