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My daughter called last night. Erin: I just left the football scrimmage. Me: Why is there a football scrimmage in February? Erin: Mom. It's April.

I have a 1098 that I am positive someone took a bite out of. I have a 1099-SSA covered in orange (which the client was kind enough to label - 'this is squash', a W2 that has perhaps been run over a time or two, multiple documents with visible footprints, etc. Also, notes on the most random, odd-shaped scraps of paper ever. What gives!?!

Well, I haven't had my say completely so I'm going to waste a little more of my time and answer SCL again. SCL, you don't get to question KC here. She is the moderator that Eric chose at the very inception of this forum to lead the group, and she is a big part of why many people stay. Eric recognized that she is a kind, generous, and level headed person, and a knowledgeable professional willing to help anyone here that is in need. She has shown that time and time again, including during the extended periods of personal struggle first with her husband's illness and passing and then with her own medical issues, that she is here for us any time one of us asks. Some of the newer folks may not have been aware of some of that, but that proves that there is no one more dedicated to this forum than KC has been and continues to be. I have personally benefited from her advice when no one else had answered, and she also patiently answered me during a time when we were actively disagreeing on issues. To me, that exemplifies the kind and generous person that she is, that she can put personal feelings aside to help a fellow practitioner. KC and a handful of others, and of course Eric, are the core group that holds this forum together year round that have my respect and my thanks. You joined a few days after the forum was created too, so this information shouldn't be anything new to you. I do wonder why anyone would continue to come here for years when one finds the slant or tone of this forum to be so distasteful, and since that is clearly the case with you, I really wish you would leave. We don't need your continual antagonistic posts that add nothing of value.

Unless all of you submit your complaints and suggestions through the suggestion box, all your complaining and whining will be just complaining and whining. I said this before, when we were at the CAB meeting, we were all shocked at how FEW suggestions and complaints were submitted. Suggestions and complaints that are reported or submitted from the most users get attention.

The way I see it is that this is a private forum created and owned by Eric, assume you made some payments to Eric those were donations not membership fees. Nothing gives you the right to dictate how it is being run Eric owns the board and KC is his majordomo. The only one here who could censor her is Eric. Maybe if you ask nicely Eric will set up a forum for "SCL approved posts". The only comments KC should get are thank you's for all the work and time this takes from her life. I appreciate the "attempt" to keep political posts separate but too many times the lines get blurred. When I don't like a post or its heading then I skip it, I don't complain about it being here. I like the humorous posts and don't like the spring flower ones, so what, someone else will like the flower talk and not the humor. this forum is a nice tool to share tax ideas, work on problems, discuss political issues that affect taxes and some that don't. its a great diversion while taking a little break or printing a return. Its not a cch forum that is dedicated solely to taxes. I can't believe all I learned here which is something I planed on posting after tax season but will post now. Being on the "gold coast" of long island its easy to get very jaded. My associates, my clients and most friends and family are from around here. What I have learned is that this is a big country with such varied social and economic differences. I love guns for self-protection, I train in martial arts and petkiti-tirsia knife fighting but except for a "few" cop friends most think I am crazy. When I read all of those here from across the country who defend gun ownership I see I am not alone. When I first saw some posts here about people raising fees $5 or others whose clients complained over small increases, when I see people here talking about the cost of toner or paper, or see others worried about depreciating $100 items I used to roll my eyes but I have learned here that while $100 here is nothing, not even a movie night out, for others it is a very significant amount. I couldn't pay my rent or eat around here if I charged what some of you charge but, you charge what makes sense for your area. Even a simple rental house around here starts at over $500,000 so to me, capitalizing anything under $5000 [in most cases] would be ridiculous. its just a different way of looking at things. I think I pay more for health insurance for my employees [$25,000} here than some of you earn, but that's not a slight, its just an economic geographic thing that I learned here. Being here you get used to big numbers but I learned that they are not normal nor universal. I bet many of you don't have to pay $20 for a sandwich but because I do, I found it hard to understand some of your posts but I am glad to have learned to look at things more universally. ok, I rambled enough after 5 hours of sleep each of the last 3 night.

I started giving all my "complimentary" tax return family clients a bill with my full prices on it and a discount to $0 in VERY LARGE FONT, just for information purposes. This year my nephew, a 1099MISC truck driver local routes only, stated to me - "All the other guys take Per Diem if they are out more than 6 hours." My response - "Come get your information and let your truck driving buddies do your tax return. I will have them ready in 15 minutes." Two weeks later he calls and asks in a quiet apologetic voice if I would file his return like I said it should be. His bill showed 50% larger than normal fees before the family discount.

staff is more dense than clients.... while I was typing the above post, our new 25 y/o intern came in with my daily deposit in his hand. 3 checks from clients and he asks are you sure you want to deposit this in this account? why? because you are depositing into Citibank and the checks come from chase and td. and my wife wonders why I drink at work!

If it's 2 W-2s...an uncomplicated A..,and 2 straightforward states...I'd charge that...especially if the client wasn't a PITA. I factor other things...like...drips and drabs...200 questions...and the assumption of getting a refund. My today rant is..."My friend recommended you. You got him $8000 and charged him $125. Why do I only get $2500 and I have to pay you $150?" Oh yes....2 PhDs at Princeton!

I would probably just elect to carry forward, carry backs are a pain.

Yes, at least treat yourself to a brief treat every few days for the rest of the 'season'. It can keep you sane and focused. An hour for a manicure or massage, or a REAL meal, etc, can work wonders. Even just an hour spent alone, listening to your favorite music, no interruptions, can be restorative.

Heck, a lot of them get to college not knowing anything about a bank account! When I taught accounting at ASU, I tried to use back account terms to help the students remember debits and credits the way I did as a new accounting student. For assets, think of your #1 asset, cash in bank. Debits = deposits, so increase the asset. Credits = checks, so decrease the asset. Well, guess what, half the class, on average, had never had a bank account, never written a check, never made a deposit.

Hahaha I thought I was the only one.

How many times have you entered the client's SS# as the EIN on a W-2 or 1099-R? I stopped counting. Some W-2s have them directly above one another....

Is that how you get rid of the in-laws tax returns. Note to self, remember this one. Tom Hollister, CA

I know someone who entered of his three grandson's social security number incorrectly on a family members' tax return last year. Their refund was delayed until a phone call straightened it out. He had to offer to advance them the money until the refund arrived, but they assured him that wasn't necessary. He had an excuse - he had changed from ATX to Drake and re-entered all his clients' info rather than do a conversion. It was one of 3 mistakes he made last season during the re-entry process. Said tax preparer will remain nameless - nobody knows other than my daughter and son-in-law.

I played hooky last night and went to a contra dance. Feel SO much better today!

Jack's right - too paranoid for their own good. Interesting thought process on the part of the client. Here are my W-2 forms (WITH MY SS#, BTW), my home mortgage information,. a rundown of every penny I have invested drawing dividends, interest, capital gains, etc. Not to mention my medical bills and whether I'm a cheerful giver or a skinflint. So I'm giving you more information about my finances than anyone in the world (aside from possibly my spouse), but I just don't feel right knowing you have a copy of my Social Security Card and my Driver's License.

It well may be taxable, but you do need to read the settlement paperwork. Loss-in-value of property • Property settlements for loss in value of property that are less than the adjusted basis of your property are not taxable and generally do not need to be reported on your tax return. However, you must reduce your basis in the property by the amount of the settlement. • If the property settlement exceeds your adjusted basis in the property, the excess is income. For more information, see the Instructions for Schedule D, (Form 1040) Capital Gains and Losses and the Instructions for Form 4797, Sales of Business Property. Interest: Interest on any settlement is generally taxable as “Interest Income” and should be reported on line 8a of Form 1040. Punitive Damages: Punitive damages are taxable and should be reported as “Other Income” on line 21 of Form 1040, even if the punitive damages were received in a settlement for personal physical injuries or physical sickness.

No one is hysterical here, there isn't a substantial amount devoted to politics, and no one is suppressing your freedom of speech. Within the general chat, non tax posts are clearly marked so that you may avoid those if you consider them a waste of your time. If you don't like the tone or slant of the politics here, you may completely avoid that forum altogether since it is separated out, join in the political discussions by posting your rebuttals in the topics made by others, start your own topics with your point of view No one is forcing you to visit the politics forum or open any topic you don't want to see. No one is even forcing you to come here if you dislike this site so much. You complain about the politics, and yet when I look at the topics you've posted in since the beginning of 2014, I see that just over 1/3 of those are in the politics forum. You either like it here or you don't. If you do choose to continue to come here and participate, please stop the whining, complaining, and especially the KC bashing. You've been doing it for years, and it is tiresome. Do you attend a party hosted by someone you strongly dislike, and upon your arrival do you announce to all the other guests your dislike for the host, the home's decor, and the food being served? Do you stay at the party, pick at the food, spit on the other guests? How long do you think it would be before you were asked to leave?

I needed a client to get a copy of his 1099G (unemployment income). NJ now makes you get it online or in person. So I explained to the guy "I need the numbers" off your 1099G and told him he can get it on line. 1st he calls back and tells me he got the form but it says not for use, information only, should he call 1-800-get forms. He went to IRS.gov and looked up 1099G DAH I told him NJ used to send 1099G showing unemployment payments but now you have to get it on line from NJ. He has a online account and I know he has used it from print outs he gave me. 2. I get another call from him and he says here are the numbers. OMB=1545-0121 What the Heck!!!! he took "the numbers" off the form. Now I may have been able to explain better to him what I needed from him, but really, how dense can you be? He's been unemployed for two years, this isn't new to him

Yes, this would be reported on 4684. At this point, before any of your adjustments it sounds like the Quickbooks "Undeposited cash account" is -0- and the loss of cash is in bad debts expense. I don't know why you would want to go through the equity accounts at all, or seem to want to reverse the entries made by the bookkeeper. Why not just credit B/D expense and debit the theft loss account. If you are trying to leave a trail, your journal entry description should suffice: "reclassify theft loss out of B/D expense".

I get lots of exercise moving my hand from the snack bag to the keyboard and back again. Two chocolate cake donuts this morning (with a latte for calcium and protein)! Eating popcorn now. Girl Scout cookies are next.

wow I was putting together a response very similar. Being a member since 2007 when this site was born, I have the greatest respect for KC and although she and I have bumped heads a few times, I still respect the choice that Eric made to make her moderator. I cannot say it any better than Judy just did and echo her sentiments completely.

Thanks Tom. That means a lot to me. I had to refill my popcorn bowl after I got angry and threw the first one against the wall.

Damn Judy, why don't you say what you really feel.... Tom Hollister, CA

I got an email from a client that asked for a new copy of her 2010 amended return since her cat spilled juice on it before she got it mailed. There were 2 amended files in the program, one for federal, one for state. I asked my assistant to prepare & put a new copy up in the portal. So I get a call from the client asking why the new copy had a different refund from the new one. Sure enough, the wrong one was up there. And this client I had mistakenly double-booked their pick up time. And they had very nicely brought a 4-pack of RockStars as a gift at the time. Another one yesterday, I hadn't checked on the invoice the method of billing. So I handed them a bill that said zero fee. That's an error I don't often make!

Can't file a joint return in 13 if the spouse died in 12.

Taxpayer and spouse are getting divorced. Wife moved away. Since she works for her dad,she didn't change jobs but thinks moving expenses should be deductible. I do not believe so. She worked for her dad before moving and after moving. She moved in with her parents since separation. There was no job change even though the mileage criteria would be met. Agree with me??

Probably this is an illustration of WHY he's been unemployed for two years.

I forgot that the question is even on the form until this thread reminded me.

Well, this made me feel a lot better and quite a few good laughs too.

How about not being able to enter 157.55 on 8949 you have to round up or down

None of my clients. I don't ask, and I won't ask. Tom Hollister, CA

I have never cared for AOL, but I have had zero issues with ATX this year and not many last year. I DO have issues with how I am going to finish all of the returns that are sitting around in various boxes in my office.

Ok - he's been collecting this pension for a little while and this is the first year that I am working with him. Looks like we need to contact the previous tax preparer....... thank you!

OK, that actually made me laugh out loud. That is really dense! Still laughing....

SCL, no one was talking about politics in this thread until YOU brought it up. When purely political posts are made here in general chat, or when topics here turn into political discussions, they are being moved. KC posted this in general chat for the humanitarian aspects of the case and it was clearly marked N/T. If you don't like that, feel free to skip over it, but please stop your personal attacks on KC. They are not welcome here. Anyone care to get back to the topic of Justine Pelletier?

New client had my first and middle name so naturally I entered my social security number as his.

Roth conversions also provide a way to avoid RMD's after age 70-1/2 on the amount converted. In some cases that can provide some marginal benefit, assuming the person has a reasonable expectation of living a long time. If the person has retirement income high enough to assume they will always be in the 15% marginal bracket or above, and if their current income doesn't max out the 15% bracket, then a Roth conversion sufficient to use up the 15%bracket is virtually a no-brainer. It guards against future increases in the tax rate AND eliminates the RMD issue for the converted amounts.

My favorite are clients are the ones that send their 1040-ES on a quarterly basis or the ones that know they owe taxes but have no problem writing a huge check

Fried Pickles and ice cream.......is there something you are not telling us, Rita?

I am partial to those that read the letter I send them in January, and follow the instructions. Heck, I am partial to the ones that can read....

"Bazzinga" my... foot. We are not hypocritical because WE didn't start out whining that your post shouldn't be here because it gets in our way. Nor are we infringing on ANYONE's free speech or ability to not click on the thread. I see threads all the time (this forum, and several others) I don't bother to click on -- forms I don't need, states I have no knowledge of, whatever. I don't go barging in to those threads and complain that they should be posting in the e-filing forum or the states forum or the other software forum. And if I click on a topic that doesn't end up interesting me, I just leave. NT is the universal advance warning for "NOT tax." Learn it. Plenty of NT topics here: laugh of the day, KC's adorable pet videos, weeds, flowers, and spring allergies -- I don't see comments in any of those threads from you about how they don't belong. So when you make accusations of "inconsistent, hypocritical, simple minded political posturing" you need to be looking in the mirror at the time.