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And now for the really important question - how do you list your occupation? I'm thinking of changing mine, but can't decide what is most comprehensive: 1) Marriage Counselor 2) Amateur Psychologist 3) Mind Reader 4) Truth Detective 5) Unpaid Government Data Entry Clerk 6) Uncompensated Auditor

Actually the IRS is a reflection of our current culture and dysfunctional political system. Observing what is going on in the USA recently is like watching the "Fall" part of the "Rise and Fall of the Roman Empire"

Like a bad apple, the IRS is rotten at the core and should be thrown away!

KC and Jack. Yes, it does all that. And it does that because CONGRESS Set it up that way. Tasked it with running the largest social welfare program in the country. Tasked it with monitoring the next worst system going forward. And then says it can't have any money... When the IRS budget is cut, it doesn't effect things except those that effect the job I am trying to do on behalf of MY clients. I can't get anyone to read a letter detailing the IRS mistake, but my client still keeps getting the automated notices.... Is the Agency perfect? No. And there are some bad apples. But on a day to day basis, they have a pretty daunting task to perform, and in many respects, they do a pretty good job. When it gets out of alignment, which we as preparers, we get to see a lot of, we CAN'T get the problem fixed in a reasonable amount of time anymore.... And that is because when they suck the money out of the budget, what is left is spent on the priorities set by Congress, and one of those that is NOT a priority is customer service. And that makes me angry. Rich

The IRS has cut its own throat by pursuing corrupt and illegal practices and then trying the childish method of hiding. The IRS has been "soaking" the taxpayers of this country for years. Inefficiencies, wasteful spending, stupid and arcane process for choosing audits, etc.. The only thing that officials in a government agency pay attention to is cuts in the budget that reduces the amount of money they can waste. I agree that it makes the job of the IRS more difficult, but if the IRS had been doing an adequate and ethical job, this would not be happening. Bottom line, all of us suffer for the poor way the IRS has been directed and worked for decades that have brought around these cuts. The frauds and tax cheats get away and the rest of us have to pay. FIRE KAREN HAWKINS!!

Thats grate. No 2 ways about it. Literally rolling in the floor. LOLing.

I had two calls from ATX last week. Both callers quickly acknowledged the prior-year fiasco as soon as we began talking. They were very honest about it. The first was a routine call from a sales rep. I told him I'm now with Drake and don't have any plans to switch, except in the unlikely event that Drake drops the ball as badly as ATX did last year. The call lasted about 5 minutes. Next day, a second person called. Judging from his demeanor and the type of discussion we had, I'd place him a little higher up the chain - maybe someone assigned the task for reclaiming lost accounts & doing some research on what they can do in the area of revenue recovery. I decided to give him some extra time. We had a nice 15-20 minute discussion about my reasons for leaving and why I'm now a Drake cheerleader. He did finally ask the obligatory "What can we do to get your business back?", and I was as honest as I could be. I told him I had discovered that Drake's speed and efficiency exceeded ATX to such a degree that there really isn't anything ATX could do. I also explained that although Drake had always been my backup plan, I wasn't aware of how superior Drake is to ATX until the debacle forced me to actually use Drake in an operational setting. So ATX's stumble was a significant benefit to me. It would cost me substantial money (in terms of billing hours lost) to return to ATX's lackluster speed & inefficiency, so the economics just don't work. And that is true for other tax preparers who make this discovery, so ATX should be especially concerned about defections to Drake. Most aren't coming back under almost any scenario. I think I am now probably off ATX's prospect list, unless I pop up as a random cold call in the future. In reflecting on this, maybe I should have strung out the discussion a bit. Although there's no practical path I can envision which involves my returning to ATX, I might have been able to wring some concessions out of them which might be useful to anyone actually thinking of going back to ATX. Sorry I didn't think of that.

I got snail mail from ATX last week bragging about how the ATX team recognized the troubles of the 2012 season, how they listed to their customers, and touting the 2013 season as being trouble free. They think their customer service is outstanding and want to earn back my trust and want me back next year. There was no mention of anything being free. I only glanced at it as it went in the bin but seemed to be the same old thing and similar pricing with the usual 10% markup.

The one thing that stands out to me is that in your gain calculations at sale you are recapturing 100% of the depreciation taken. I think that only 50% should be recaptured because the one time that depreciation recapture can be avoided is death, and since the 50% of the unit owned by the deceased was included in the estate assets, it had the potential to be taxed at the estate tax rates.

I would love to see people held personally accountable, fired if needed, and pension revoked if warranted (or at least reduced to a return of what they have put in plus interest). Not the people who are just trying to do their job get punished by having to do twice as much work in the same amount of time for the same pay.

Do you have a suggestion of a better way to curb the corruption which starts at the top of the agency?

No, but I want to see if it shows up on the survey one day... Rich

I've been a Weird Al fan for ages, but this is now my absolute # 1 fav of all his songs. BTW, if you ever have the chance, his live show is a 'don't miss' for sure. I saw it last summer, and it was fantastic.

Reminds me of taking my oldest son to an all-you-can-eat buffet.

Stupid. Really, Really Stupid. Rich

Whatever works. The IRS has released information in the past where they reported the AGI in comparison to the occupation listed on the return. Therefore I list for my clients, "Death Eater". Rich

There, they're, their now, let's not get two excited.