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We probably all have more nice clients than stinkers, don't we? I know I do. It's good to have everybody on here to tell my horror stories, but bottom line, I have a lot of fun flapping my yak with my folks, as MAS says, and it's a great feeling when somebody leaves with a big smile because an actual human being talked to them. Sometimes about things I don't want to know, but nonetheless...

No to the current year NOL question. In calculating a NOL you are not permitted a deduction for personal exemptions, capital losses in excess of capital gains, section 1202 exclusion, nonbusiness deductions in excess of non-business income, the net operating loss deduction, or dpad. So starting with line 41 of the 1040 you have to add back the nonbusiness deductions in excess of non-business income and that -5,914 becomes +6,286. No 2013 NOL. Looks like they'll still have a lot of their prior NOL left though.

I had one come by at 5:30 on the 14th but he and his wife each only have 1 W-2 so not a big deal. I had a Sch. C not get me info till the 12th but did not get me his sch A deductions till about 5:00 on the 15th. He was charged $300 more then last year

He learned to write that way in his "assertiveness training" course. Sometimes that style works, but usually it just ticks people off.

Probably the same would be true about the returns on extension and Oct 15.

If I were in charge of selecting returns for audit, I'd weigh the selection heaviest on returns which were filed on Apr 15. I believe that is where the greatest number of errors are made, as last-minute filers are rushing to "get something filed" at the 11th hour. Wouldn't surprise me to find 75% of errors by taxpayer AND preparers occur in those golden hours around Apr 12-15.

how 'bout this one - for Jack & others.

I shut my phone off at 5pm on the 15th & announced the shop was closed for the rest of the week on my Facebook page. Yesterday I got my hair done & ran some errands, & met friends for coffee. Today I washed dishes and am contemplating cleaning my house from the comfort of my couch, iPad on my lap. Plan on getting a mani/pedi, but the couch has it's hold on me... Tomorrow my assistant is coming in and she said we were going to get my desk clean....and vacuum. Yes, ma'am, I sez to her. I need to give her a raise...

I send them home with a list too, if they are missing items, including any kind of valuation for Goodwill, etc. donations. I also file a lot of extensions. One couple, I have most if not all of their stuff, but the final k1 came in very late. Contacted them about amounts due, and said: I could finish this, but yours is a very complex return (it is) and I'd rather be doing the final check when I have had ample rest and have a few more brain cells functioning. Answer: thank you for being so thorough. And we will be in Sacramento May 4, can we take you out to dinner and finally meet face to face?

I am seriously contemplating a trip back to your place for that racing spectacular that happens up there. I might drive and bring enough equipment to properly set that system up in your vacation home. More driving, but I can bring a trunk full of stuff! Then I can take home as much of the AWESOME cheese like that block you graciously gave me as a gift when I was there. However, it will NOT be in the wintertime!!!

Client sends an email the morning of 4/14 with all the detailed information (2 pages when printed) he has been missing since initial appointment late February. He closes his email with I look forward to coming by around 5p (on 4/14) to pick up my completed return. I am willing to bet he had no idea the email response he got back was going to look like what it did!!!

Once again, this board has been an invaluable treasure to my practice. I appreciate all of you. Eric, you are the absolute bomb. I can't thank you enough for doing this for us. Sorry to be a problem sometimes with my comments, and I really try to be good, but sometimes I can't help myself. I hope you forgive me and let me stay here forever. KC, you are one of my favorite people in the whole wide world. Catherine, we are common souls. I love reading your posts. Jack in OH, thanks for everything on the techie side that I don't understand. Appreciate all your posts. Linda - I hope you have had a good season. I have enjoyed meeting you and working with you this year. Patty just loves you. Hope you all had a successful season and I will be seeing you again next year. Tom Hollister, CA

I like the idea that you are keeping Rita on the East Coast. She SERIOUSLY scares me. "I've actually been eating popcorn and stalking people on FaceBook a good bit today." I am glad I don't play on facebook. Love ya Rita, as long as the Mississippi is between us. Tom Hollister, CA

Be self-employed and have 30,000 business miles. Be self-employed, have three kids, and net income of $13,500 - 17,450. Be self-employed and lose money every year. Every. Year. Have a day job and a farm that loses money every year. Every. Year. Give away your yard sale crap that is worth thousands. Wink. Wink.

1. be 100% accurate

"There used be a rationale along the lines that returns filed in Sept - Oct miss the cutoff for audit selection based on the current year and get thrown into the mix for the following year. Not omitted, but simply batched with the succeeding year." I think that is the rational, but he doesn't have that kind of understanding of the process, so he must have heard it some place

IRS Audit Rate Hits New Low The Internal Revenue Service is anticipating the chances of a tax return being audited to be the lowest in years. The IRS audited less than 1 percent of individual tax returns in 2013, the lowest rate since 2005, and the number of individual returns that will be audited this year will decline even further, IRS commissioner John Koskinen told theAssociated Press. Thanks to successive rounds of budget cuts at the hands of Congress, the IRS has been forced to cut back on its audits. “We keep going after the people who look like the worst of the bad guys,” Koskinen told the AP. “But there are going to be some people that we should catch, either in terms of collecting the revenue from them or prosecuting them, that we’re not going to catch.” Last year, the IRS audited just 0.9 percent of individuals who earned less than $200,000 a year, the lowest rate since 2005. The odds of being audited were more likely for high earners, but while 10.9 percent of individuals who earned $1 million or more were audited last year, that was the lowest proportion since 2010. An average of 0.6 percent of business tax returns were audited last year. The rate was much higher for large corporations, with approximately 16 percent of corporations with assets of over $10 million subjected to audits. To compensate in part for the cutbacks in budgets and manpower, the IRS is increasingly relying on technology to catch mismatches between the income that individuals report on their tax returns and the information reports that are filed by their employers, banks and other businesses. However, Koskinen would like to see Congress pass the Obama administration’s proposed increase in the IRS’s budget. According to the administration, the IRS takes in $6 for every $1 added to its enforcement budget. But with opposition to the IRS rampant in Congress in the aftermath of scandals tied to the so-called “targeting” of Tea Party groups, the agency is likely to endure another round of budget cuts next year.

You can only take one type of transaction directly to schedule D - "Covered Transactions with Basis Reported to IRS". With those transactions, you can enter Selling Price and Cost Basis on lines 1a and/or 8a. No attachment is required for those transactions and no other entry is required. Then you have transactions with basis reported to the client, but not reported to IRS. Those must be entered on the 8949 in sub-total form only, and the brokerage statement must be attached. The line entry in the 8949 should say "(broker name)-see attached schedule". There might be two 8949's needed, depending upon whether you have long-term and short-term transactions. The 8949's then feed onto the detail lines on the Schedule D. Then you may have sale transactions on the brokerage statement with no basis reported to the client or to IRS. These transactions must be entered line-by-line after you get basis info from the client (good luck with that one). Then you have capital gain/loss transactions which are not on a brokerage statement at all. (special good luck with that one).

I think people are nuts and anything they don't want to do increases their chances of being audited. I have heard many people ask, when I tell them they will have to get an extension, "But won't that increase my chances of being audited?" That's when I say, "Pssshhh, I get an extension every year and prepare my own return in June. Or September. Whenever I feel like it. And you're not doing anything wrong, are you? If you get audited, they probably owe you, right? Bring it on!" Then they go home and think about all the money they didn't report and miles they made up and worry. But they got an extension anyway.

If he tells the truth and has it documented, he doesn't have to worry about it. IMO

You like to live dangerously, don't you Jack?

It's the nice clients that are keeping me from actually retiring. One couple moved about 200 miles away, but still brings their stuff to me each year. One year the wife left her scarf, but didn't want me to mail it. A couple of months later we were driving through their area so we dropped it off. They fixed us a yummy Columbian (where they were from originally) dinner.

Did you put the prior year NOL on Line 21 of the 1040? Agree with what David says. After the add backs, there is no NOL for this year to add to the prior. Tom Hollister, CA

Ahem. That is more properly, rights as listed in the 5th Amendment. Our rights pre-date, transcend, and supersede the Constitution. They are a gift to us from our Creator.

We will not be making it to Boston this year. With MIT killing my son's dreams, there is no reason to go. But we will be in Washington DC on vacation after he graduates from High School. I will wave to you when I get there. Do you think the IRS would pull my PTIN and EA license if I took a selfie flipping off the IRS headquarters in DC? Tom Hollister, CA

Anyone that gets to SW Ohio, Dayton, Columbus, Cincinnati be sure to contact me. I would love to meet any of you in person.

I WILL obtain my E.A. certification by the end of the year. This will be my leverage into the "DIY" tax prep group when they get those notices. 2014 will be a huge disaster for the "DIY" tax prep group due to the intricacies of the "ACA." I use quotes because by no standard based in reality is it "Affordable." With my E.A. designation, come 2015 I will be in demand big time in my town.

Should have been $500 more!!

I agree that business is increasing rather than the opposite. Children are growing up and going off to college. The parents want to keep them as dependents so bring the students' returns in as well. (I do not charge for student children of my clients, for that reason) Nor do I charge for active military; or wounded in action military. However, older clients have more investments and want more help with financial planning. New clients are sending more new clients. Preparers are retiring and referring clients. Wherever they are coming from, this is the busiest year that I have ever had and the returns just keep becoming more complex. More extensions this year than in all the prior years combined. I am seeing more rentals, more small businesses, more college credits, etc. People who have lost jobs are trying to make a living in whatever way they can and have no idea how to handle the tax repercussions. They come for advice, they come for help and they bring their (sometimes very complex) tax returns as well. I am grateful; but I am also here to help. The foundation of my business is not "all about money"!

As in, "Pick up your stuff, this is not a storage shed!" The ones who pay up front will usually pick them up when they come in next year. Also, since extensions are filed, DEEP silence.

I called one Monday night, return was finished 3/17. Me: You need to pick up your return. She: Oh, yes, I've been so busy. Me: I'm here right now. (Her place of business is two miles from mine, she passes me twice a day going to and from work.) She: Oh, I'm off on Mondays. I'm at home.

Is it just me or is there an increase in this type of ridiculousness this season? I had a client drop partial info in mid February. I emailed and called several times requesting the missing documents. They were delivered to me on 4/14. She stated she was sorry but things have been so hectic because her unmarried 21 yo became pregnant. This makes me assume the client is carrying the baby for the daughter? Husband is W2 and spouse works from home and made <$1500.

His actions just define him as "clueless!"

Yes, the thank you video as well. A class act, all around!