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Thanks for the birthday wishes. This is the big 66th, and now it's time to begin drawing some of that Social Security. So thanks to all of you who are helping fund a small part of my retirement benefit. (Although at the rate I'm still working, I'm only costing you a part of it. According to my figures, I'm continuing to pay in SocSec taxes about 40% of what I'm receiving in benefits.) BTW, if anyone is approaching retirement or knows someone who is, be sure to mention that they should look into the "Free Spousal Benefit". That, coupled with "File and Suspend", can be a great tool for increasing long-term retirement income. In certain situations, it is almost a no-brainer, but retirement planners and even Social Security consultants often misunderstand it or miss it altogether.

The second year I had two kids in college, I filed there FAFSA in June. Made ZERO difference. Colleges push students (because the financial aid people are generally 90% clueless about the real world) to get FAFSA done early using the term "Aid directly from the college that is based on FAFSA information." This is generally nonsense. Estimates work to get the "frantic" people in Financial Aid off the student's back, and has absolutely NO effect on the Federal aid the student is entitled to. Final numbers determine the aid. I get so frustrated with Financial Aid department workers telling clients that it MUST be completed with this year's tax information by mid February.

I'm sorry to hear of your troubles too. Perhaps some of the more difficult clients wouldn't mind going on extension when they hear the reason for your not being able to do their work this year, and you could work at a slower pace. I hate to see you lose income as well with your troubles at this time. My condolences.

QuickBooks only makes a very weak and partially functional version for MAC. The prefer to support 85% of the marketplace with PC software. If your client is serious about using QuickBooks, have them get a separate PC (at 1/3 the cost, by the way) to run QuickBooks on. MAS is correct. Conversions NEVER work.

That is what I thought too....at first. Funny thing, I actually had a client who did get married in September and asked me for an Organizer as she was coming to me and her new husband was going to his old accountant. It took about five e-mails to explain about MFJ and that they were no longer single. They were each going to file S this year and together next year. Whoa!!!!! The options are MFJ and MFS and if you don't want to lose the Education Credits for your daughter in college, you had better file together. Got a note today thanking me and informing me that they are both going to his accountant and filing MFJ. She has been with me since 1996; but these things happen all the time and I am actually relieved. She has mega-investments and understands nothing about them.

"We don’t mean to be driving preparers out of the preparation of EITC refunds. And there’s been a trend in that direction. There’s a somewhat smaller percentage of those returns that are now coming in through preparers as opposed to people doing them themselves, and we certainly didn’t intend to have preparers decide that it’s not worth the effort. " That horse is already out of the barn.

I don't need to know WHEN I'm going to die. I'd like to know WHERE I'm going to die. Then I'd just make sure I never go there...

I was going to suggest using One Write Plus for MAC just for the check writing piece, but Sage Software does not offer that software anymore. Quicken Essentials $29.99 for MAC would probably work and then export the data via csv. It is critical to have you set this up as having anyone that does not understand basic accounting (can I say my Farm Clients, "no Loan pmts are NOT repairs or equipment purchases""No you do not enter the Net Milk Check"), it is not worth the aggravation of having to redo, reclass, JE adjustments, or recreate in QBs. It takes a lot more time!

I am sorry for your losses and for the pressures you are under. Several others have already mentioned extensions, and I will add a strong encouragement for you to use that as your relief valve. If you simply tell your clients of your situation and that you must file extensions, most of them will surprise you with how readily they agree to it. (at least, the good clients will understand). You should tell them that the last thing they want is to have you trying to finish their work under pressure of deadlines and all the other personal things you are dealing with right now. Their financial situation is too important for the work to be prepared by a tired, distracted, overwhelmed preparer being ruled by an arbitrary Apr 15 deadline. If they don't trust your judgment in this situation, then there is no trust in the business relationship at all. Filing the extension doesn't mean their work will wait until Oct 15 - it simply means you may not be able to get their return finished until Apr 20, Apr 30, May 10, May 20, etc. Taking Apr 15 off the table as a meaningful date will provide you tremendous relief and will enable you to be more effective at this critical time. Be proactive - make filing the extension a normal part of your intake process. You should start filing extensions soon - maybe as early as March 1. Discuss this with the client when they bring their info to you; don't wait until the first of April to address this. The good clients will understand, and the lousy, insensitive clients will show their true colors. Both ways, you win.

I was actually not thinking of small amounts like to pay window washers, etc. We all do use collected cash that way. But Marilyn was talking about a business with large cash receipts, 5K to 10K or more. And I have seen auditors who start by asking if all amounts received are deposited, and if the answer is 'no' they then are very suspicious of the client's records unless they have been very careful, like numbered receipts, etc.

I know many of you never or seldom go to the Politics forum, and that is fine. But please, do go there and read the thread titled "What happens when a state becomes too powerful". This is not actually a political thread so much as a human rights thread, and a situation so crazy that it's hard to believe any state would ever do such a thing. This family needs all the help they can get.

I like to report Izzet. No one should ever mention "Vista" It creates turmoil and chaos in our lives

I don't believe it's this forum. I've clicked on just about every link, and I haven't had any pop ups appearing in either browser.

Come here as often as you need for whatever you need. We're all in this together. I'm a huge fan of extensions. I also think mileage is deductible to bid on jobs, to pick up equipment and workers, to bank, for any business purpose, whether he's going from his OIH to any of those or going between his various activities/locations. (Just don't pick up the dry cleaning on the way!) As long as he is "on business" it's business mileage and deductible with an OIH.

I think it has to be done by calling Social Security Admin. My situation is somewhat similar to yours. But if your husband begins drawing Free Spousal Benefit before he reaches age 66, there is a partially ofsetting reduction of some sort in the long run. You will definitely want to check out the financial implications of that. As I understand it, the strategy is age-neutral and the FSB is truly free only if the spouse applying for the Free Spousal Benefit has also reached full retirement age. In my case, my wife is already receiving benefits at full retirement age. So I will receive my Age-66 Full-Retirement benefit for the next 5 months. Then (assuming I don't develop any life-shortening health issues during this time), I will suspend my own filing and apply for the spousal benefit. A little quirk here is that I have to repay all that I have received in benefits during the 5 months and then wait for them to send me a make-up check for the lower benefit, but that's basically just a timing issue. That puts me back in the pool for the increasing benefit between age 66 and 70 (about an 8% return on invested funds, by most estimates). My monthly benefit decreases by $400 during this time, but for each year I wait, the ultimate monthly benefit increase by over $100/month. So as I see it, this distills down to the equivalent of paying $4,800 for an annuity which will pay me $100/month for as long as I live. (It's actually better than that, because I'd have to earn over $7,000 to have enough after-tax money to fund the $4,800 annuity) If I die within 4 years, Social Security Admin wins because I left money on the table. If I live beyond 4 yrs, I win. I'm planning to win. If you and your husband do this, I think the most important thing is to be sure the person you speak with at SSA fully understands the strategy. Keep in mind that the Free Spousal Benefit can only be claimed for a maximum of 6 months back - two people I spoke with at SSA didn't know that. Here's a link to a sort discussion on this, but it isn't comprehensive. http://www.socialsecuritychoices.com/info/freespousal.php

I would agree mostly with Pacun. Because the amount is in box 3, I would put it on line 21 rather than a schedule C. I think that even if you deduct the entire $1300 the 1099 and the deduction will go to the IRS computers if you are electronically filing, so I don't see any reason to leave the $1 in income to get the explanation on the front page of the return. Instead I would put the explanation in one of the spaces for other on line 21 with the negative amount. However, I have not had one of these settlements yet and have not done any research. If this amount is refund of fees charged erroneously or illegally, then whether or not it is taxable might depend on the treatment of the fees originally. If they were deducted from income because they were treated as points, or because this was rental property, they might be taxable now. If they were added to the basis of the original real estate and that has since been sold and income or loss reported on the sale, they might be taxable. If they have been added to basis but the property has not been sold, they would probably just reduce that basis. Without more information about whether this was the entire amount they received and whether all of the damages were punitive or some were compensatory, I don't have an opinion about taxation of the amounts.

I'll suffer with it. No way I'm taking a chance on spraying them and having some paper of his damaged. Besides, it's a 10" high stack of papers and documents all in a plastic milk crate. That would be a lot of spraying! Maybe I should put them outside to be washed away in tomorrow forecasted flooding. lol

They sure don't need QB to do check processing though. Too bad they won't do online banking. I get checks from clients all the time that are from their online accounts. I was hesitant to do banking online, but once I started, I won't go back to writing checks by hand!

Why use the more complicated and expensive quickbooks if all she needs it for is check writing. Quicken office and home does the same thing and runs on mac and pc. Gives out pretty good reports also. I use both in my office.

Thanks, I've been doing it that way for years and then started questioning myself this year.

No replies yet. I was supposed to get an e-mail, but alas, nothing. I will hit them with more e-mails that should stir something up tomorrow. Came home from the firm and completed 6 returns, ate supper, took a 30 minute break, and now ready to finish #7 & #8 today.

I've just recently been working with QB online, getting familar with it and kicking the tires. It has quite a few limitations, but overall i'm impressed. I think intuit will continue to improve it and clean up its weaknesses. If you decide to abandon it later, you could dump all the data into an excel spreadsheet and then move it into whatever you like. based on what you described, I think QB online would work well for you and your client. only one fee necessary, as the client would simply give you the username and password, then either of you can sign on at ay time from anywhere. Since the client mainly wants to use it to write checks, this would give you a low-key means to test drive QB online yourself.

Maybe there has been advances in technology since the last time I tried converting QB Mac to QB PC, but it ended up in a total mess. You have nothing to lose in your case, except if your client buys QB 2014 for Mac, you will have to the same for PC. I am Mac guy, I run XP, WIN7, various versions/years of QB and ATX without a problem since 2008. I would highly recommend QB online for basic accounting or cloud9realtime QB hosting, see the link below. http://www.cloud9realtime.com/ Prepare a file for conversion from QuickBooks for Mac to QuickBooks for Windows The following versions of QuickBooks for Macintosh will convert to QuickBooks for Windows: Mac 2014 will convert to Windows 2014 Mac 2013 will convert to Windows 2013 Mac 2012 will convert to Windows 2012 Mac 2011 will convert to Windows 2011 Mac 2010 will convert to Windows 2010 Mac 2009 will convert to Windows 2009 Mac 2007 will convert to Windows 2007 and 2008 Mac 2006 will convert to Windows 2006 and 2007 Mac 2005 will convert to Windows 2005, 2006 and 2007 Mac 6.0 will convert to Windows 2003, 2004, 2005 and 2006 Mac 5.0 will convert to Windows 2003, 2004 and 2005

"Special" trip is to run a 10k in Bend, OR.....what did you think...that I would get married...and lose my HOH filing status?! Not as long as my daughter qualifies as my dependent! As a Tax professional, I know that rarely is it financially beneficial to get married...I'll just keep my "sugar Mollie" for now.

Careful - either of these this could be you as a tax preparer:

if atx survives this year it will be, in a large part, due to you.

You should see a 1099R with a code G. Perhaps it got lost in the mail. I would not worry much about it. Having the 5498 certainly would prove that the funds were re-deposited into an eligible account. Just hold onto that piece of paper if there is ever correspondence from the IRS. Tom Hollister, CA

I updated and rebooted the system just for fun since I hadn't rebooted in a few days and ATX opened very quickly after the install & reboot. I then did the workstation as Jack indicated. Both are working well....at least I haven't heard any howls of frustration from my assistant, so I assume all is good over there.

OFF TOPIC - KC I just noticed your new tagline quoting Thomas Edison and I love it!

Catherine, I agree with you 100%. This person's work gets put into the queue with everyone else's. Believe me, he isn't getting preferential treatment. The reason for less sleep is that this is a lot of work for him, and because it came in during my busiest time of the year, I'm having to work more hours now to keep up with the other work load. He knows I have loads more free time in the fall where his work would not be an added burden like it seems to be now. That's all I meant.

His lack of planing and work is not YOUR emergency. I have let plenty of clients become "late filers" after warning them of the penalties and consequences -- in writing, by USMail, certified/return. Usually doesn't take too many iterations before they "get it" and those who don't get used to paying the penalties. I have to re-learn, the hard way, every couple of years, that I *cannot* allow myself to care more about their tax returns than they do!

http://www.accountingtoday.com/news/Chiropractor-Arrested-Bribing-IRS-Auditor-69630-1.html?utm_campaign=tax%20pro%20today-feb%2019%202014&utm_medium=email&utm_source=newsletter&taxpro=1 - A chiropractor has been arrested for attempting to bribe an Internal Revenue Service auditor who questioned deductions the chiropractor had claimed for payments to two female patients who had accused him of inappropriately touching them. Speechless. And priceless.... for everything else there's .....

Should that have been an "adjustment" rather than a deduction? (just askin)

THIS one I can almost understand, as having a new baby will frazzle anyone's brain. And if the kidlet is more than a couple months old, everyone already knows, right?

I hear ya, but sadly, there are a lot of people out there getting refundable credits, so you never know when things will change and having zero taxable income will be subsidized for grad students. If we can give refundable credits for having children, or low income, or being good at underreporting income, we can give credits for textbooks or having student loans. Nothing would surprise me now. He was just playing it safe.

That happened to me twice - with the same client. (With one intervening year). You'd think one of us would have leaned. Now every year I ask him "are you SURE you didn't add any dependents last year?"

Yeah, more like "one today". Lol. The one I'm working on now, the wife kept whining about having a kid in college and how expensive it is (which I don't know anything about, since I have two and 1/2 their income). I go thru all the info about what expenses are legit for the AOC, run down the 1098-T and the statement of transactions, which was like landing a plane, even though husband works for the University, and we find out the kid had 2K more in scholarships and grants than tuition and fees. "Oh, haha, I guess it wasn't as expensive as I thought."