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Last night after taking a break, I came up to the office and put the iPod on shuffle. Shuffle must have known what I needed because all that came up was killer rock: Tom Petty, Rolling Stones, Mott the Hoople, etc. with a bit of zydeco & world music thrown in for good measure. Got me singing & dancing along into the wee hours of the morning, and got most of that icky payroll tax mess sorted, plus two RDP couples' returns done. A good night after an awful day. And one of the couples I finished up, just came in & signed. even though they were a half hour early and I was still in my pjs. They didn't mind. Now off to deposit those checks & get dog food, and duck some raindrops. And I still have chocolate from my last run for groceries; a box of dark chocolate truffles that isn't even open yet! Whoo hooo!

In any event, the divorce decree will have no bearing on anything other than trying to keep the parents honest.

Yes, but the question is will the IRS match your 'corrected' information to the 1099B received from the brokerage house? Would you not get a nastygram that should have been eliminated by the correct 1099B from the brokerage. I have a 1099B with long term, code D, in which the date is less than a month. I count about 25 of these with the same purchase date. When I questioned my client, he stated that he thought that might be the date his mother died from whom he inherited the stock. This would make sense as that automatically is long term and should have 'inherited' as the purchase date. We are checking with the broker on Tuesday.

Unless something has changed, it is illegal a violation of the credit card agreement to charge more for a credit card transaction. Instead, raise the price by $30 and offer a $30 discount for cash/check.

I never celebrate Pi day. But if was Pie day that would be different.

I believe you are thinking of square root day, the last one was on 3/3/09. The next one will be on 4/4/16. PS, you changed your original post. There is only one per year 3/14.

I just love the FAFSA people. Got an 1120S & 1040 on 2/24 stating that they need the numbers for the FAFSA by 2/28. Hahahahaha!

WHOA..........Is he renting the studio just for the lessons he gives? Or renting it for his personal practicing as well as the lesson? It does not 'smell right' if he's got a loss because he;s renting space to give lessons, that costs more than he's charging for the lessons.

Gregorian, but I see your point. It isn't 2 pi days - it's 1 Pi day every year and 1 Pi month every 100 years.

Student loans will do it every time, especially if the mom's income is such that she qualifies for EIC.

The language the IRS uses is: If a reasonable and well-informed tax return preparer knowledgeable in the law would conclude that any information the taxpayer has given you appears to be incorrect, incomplete, or inconsistent with the taxpayer's eligibility to claim the EIC, you must ask the taxpayer reasonable questions to get information that is correct, consistent, and complete. You must document the questions you asked and the answers you received. This is how you meet your knowledge requirement. I suppose the information could be considered inconsistent - the father's name on the medical records and school records. Therefore, you must ask the taxpayer reasonable questions. Sounds like you did. Father's name on medical records as the child is on dad's insurance. Father's address for school so child can continue attending existing school. To me, it seems the requirements are met with the questions you asked. Can you guarantee 100% that the child does live with mother and not father for the greater number of nights? Probably not. I think in order to do that you would need to ask or require unreasonable information.

Ahh, good to know it isn't only me. I've had 3 Schwab trust accounts with the wrong code on every one. Because the dates are listed and I figured the software will want the code they show to match the dates, I input the code with the correct description. All efiled fine and I am assuming that the dates will be the controlling factor in the long run, anyway. There weren't too many entries so I just entered all transactions.

if they put in money that is capital contributed and then used that money to buy supplies it is an expense on 1065. Net profit on the 1065 does increase basis. There is a worksheet in ATX

ATX has posted that ATX13 is not recommended to be used on WIN 8 of any release. This has been announced since November last year. WIN 8 is not a real operating system for anything but touchscreen devices. Note: Developers for WIN 9 are returning back to the traditional style of interface. WIN 8 and VISTA both FAIL!!!

Terry, I totally agree with Cathy. Don't 'train' him that he can make unreasonable requests and get away with it scot free. Either charge him A LARGE "RUSH" FEE, PAYABLE UP FRONT, or don't do it on a rush basis.

Terry, I certainly wouldn't bang my head against the wall on this no brainer. Plain and simple....NO, NO, NO. There's no possible way you can put off your good clients for one who is perpetually slow and seems to only think about having his return prepared when he's pushed up against the wall. Your client certainly has payroll records the auditor can view plus the fact that an auditor usually tells the client he is to audit to have those payroll records ready in addition to his check register for the policy year so he/she can see if any "sub contract" labor exists without Certificates of Insurance. Trust me, it is not necessary for an auditor to have a completed income tax return as normally the policy year doesn't run from January through December as does the tax year for most. As long as you pacify your client and abide by their absurd requests this time of year, the longer they will keep on doing it to you. Take care, Cathy

Haha, be careful or he will back off enough to get EIC, and he'll be eating better than us.

There are three threshold requirements that everyone must meet to qualify for the home office deduction. You must: · Be in business · Use your home office exclusively for business (unless you store inventory in your home) and · Use your home office for your business on a regular basis. If you pass the first hurdle, then you must also meet any one of the following five requirements: · Your home office is your principal place of business o If you work in more than one location, your home office still qualifies as your principal place of business if you perform your most important business activities – those activities that most directly generate your income – at home. o If you perform equally important business activities in several locations, your principal place of business is where you spend more than half of your time. · You regularly and exclusively use your home office for administrative or management activities for your business and have no other fixed location where you conduct substantial administrative or management activities. o Administrative and management activities include, but are not limited to: § Billing customers § Keeping books & records § Ordering supplies § Setting up appointments and § Writing reports As long as you have no other fixed location where you regularly do these activities – like an outside office – you’ll qualify for the deduction. Also, you can qualify for the deduction even if you have suitable space to conduct administrative or management activities outside your home, but choose to use your home office for those activates instead. · You meet patients, clients or customers at home. · You use a separate structure on your property exclusively for business purposes, or · You store inventory or product samples at home. There are a few additional requirements if you are an employee of a corporation, including owners (for the convenience of the employer & the corp must pay).

My husband works for a chocolate company. My mother-in-law also works in the candy kitchen for the same company. We NEVER run out of high quality chocolate in our office!!!

In my office, I review, sign and invoice all the individual returns (another person invoices business and write-up work). Sometimes, the returns, when finished look so darn easy and simple, yet when I look at the time cards, they tell a different story. We charge by the form and factor/adjust for the complexity of the form. We also charge an hourly rate for any work required prior to the start of tax return entries, such as compiling and organizing papers. This can be especially true when we receive QuickBooks backups that are a mess, or the classic shoebox of papers. After all of that, I step back and look at the big picture to decide if the invoice is fair . . . and I do exercise some discretion in that area as well. Our clients our like the goose that lays the golden egg. We do not want to fall on our sword over one return, when we are looking forward to a long and prosperous future with them. Recently, we had a new client, who prior to pick up, tell us that she and her husband are unhappy with the invoice. They have called around and compared prices and believe we have pushed the limits. I am sure that they did not call HRB or Liberty! They have self prepared in the past. They itemize, have employee business expenses, and in 2013 they started a new business with home office, depreciation, travel, etc. The information needed to be organized prior to the start of their return. The price of the return was $320 plus $50 hourly. They think the return should be $225.00. They are not the goose that lays the golden egg. I will have no problem saying goodbye to them. On a final note, their criticism is helpful. We do need to stay informed of and sensitive to the prices of our competitors. I personally prepared that return and felt like I had done a good job for them. It does hurt a little to have them turn on me and diminish the value of our product. Oh well. NEXT!

We got your back, and you got ours, Girlfriend.

Here is my rant.... Went to bed late Friday night for a church social event, then up early to drive two hours to an 8 am start at a Rotary event. So, I am losing a Saturday for tax season, already. Had a client, who's daughter and daughters boyfriend (DBF) got involved in this business of checking on the foreclosure houses of a very large bank. Lots of driving around, but good money, I was told. So, since their house is on the way back, I stop in to collect the my clients tax stuff and talk to this young couple about incorporating and minimizing taxes and how to do it right. First thing out of DBF's mouth is how he wants to DEDUCT EVERYTHING, all the mileage, all the phones, the GPS, the camera, entertainment, etc.... ME: "Ok, well, how much money did you make" As I look at the pile of info for daughter (1 W-2, a 1099 and 1098T) and DBF (1 W2, 1098T and a HUGE unemployment 1099-G $15k+) but no 1099 from this company to "him". Him: Oh, whatever is there, but we drove SO much, and the guy said that I could deduct..." ME: "Wait, all this for $5,200? How much do you get paid to do this? Him: Finally after much hemming and hawing, he finally admits that they get paid $4.25 a house to check on them once a month or every other month.... and he did NOT get a 1099 for anything, just the daughter got the1099... ME: "How many miles did you drive?" Him: 15,000 miles. ME: "So, you spent $7,500+ to make $5,200?" "You want tax deductions? Your accounting fee is $10,000 so just write me a check, and I will worry about the taxes..." Him: Silence. Me... I shouldn't meet with idiots when I am tired. Rich

I can't see 'em on my iPad either. I'm learning to type a lot of them because I've been using Messenger a lot and they don't work on my desktop in there, but do on my iPad. figures. I'm so glad all you guys are here. I had a wee meltdown today, and I come in here and don't have to explain anything.....just have to say meltdown...

"Time" is not one of the statutory factors for determining who can claim a dependent child. Various units of time may apply, such as days or nights or months or years, and qualifiers like normal or temporary, so assumptions are not reliable. It sounds like the divorce agreement was for the children to live with the mother. Before I would believe that didn't happen, I would ask for a detailed explanation that doesn't involve the divorce decree. I confess to being overly conservative on the point--in my experience, the father is almost never right.